Merry Christmas

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Unsure

Over the last few days there have been several agencies in the US limit their single parents to 3-10 applicants per year as a new directive from MOWA. This has me very concerned. My agency says nothing has changed for them...but how is one to really know. I don't know what to do at this point. My gut is saying Woah..hold off a few months and see where this goes????? I don't know!!
Louise

One Year!

One Month Home


Two Months Home


Three Months Home


Four Months Home


Five Months Home



6 Months Home


7 Months Home


8 Months Home


9 Months Home


10 Months Home


11 Months Home


12 Months Home



A year ago today, Nathaniel and I were welcomed home by a host of family, friends, coworkers, fellow adoptive parents, and Nathaniel's buddies from the CAFAC foster home.

Timing!!

Well that is pretty cool...Almost a year to the date of when we arrived, my completed dossier arrived at Imagine to be prepared to go to Ethiopia. Neat timing I think! Oh and its stuck there until the province makes a new letter of approval as the 1st letter says I am approved for a female ages 0-12...not 0-12 months...opps..a
bit of deja vu there as that happened last time around too!
Oh and can I make note...no big freakout on my end about being delayed a week!! Again...who is this person.

Who IS THIS PERSON??

People who know me, remember that I was not exactly patient in the last process...especially during paperchasing time. I had everything into the province in a record 3 weeks...this time it was like 1 1/2 months..
Can you believe I just said to my prov sw, I will drop off that last document needed for my dossier tommorrow..if not Monday......what!!!! Who am I turning into??? HAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Louise

Out of my Hands :) :)

Well its official, all the documents are out of my hands, and on their way to Imagine very shortly. They need to make a quick stop to get a letter of approval, and then they will be off to Imagine.
YAY!!! Its very exciting, I keep thinking back to when I was doing this the first time. I was waaayyy more rushed..and wayy more anxious to get it off. I remember thinking each day counts, now its more like a couple of days here or there won't make a difference in the long run...funny how times change!

Wow..time to start shopping pink!!!
Louise

APPROVED!!!!

YYYAAAYY!! Today at 3pm I heard that I was officially approved by the province. YAY!!!
Next step is to collect all the dossier docs together and send them off to the agency. I am thinking the file should be ready to go by end of November. That is exciting! I can't believe this is all coming together so smoothly!
Louise

Officially Approved by the Province

YYYAAAYY!! Today at 3pm I heard that I was officially approved by the province. YAY!!!
Next step is to collect all the dossier docs together and send them off to the agency. I am thinking the file should be ready to go by end of November. That is exciting! I can't believe this is all coming together so smoothly!
Louise

OCTOBER 14th

That is Approval day, there will be a meeting around 130pm....anxiety and excitment all rolled into one for that day!
Louise

Update

I just heard that my homestudy practitioner should have it written up early next week and will be speaking to the provincial sw to arrange a meeting for the approval!
YAY!!!!
Louise

Homestudy Update

Today I had my homestudy update with the sw. I also did our 1 yr Post Placement report...the last one the sw has to do. It was really nice to get together with M again as we hadn't seen her since this spring.
So it will probably take 2 weeks to write it up and then it will go off to Provincial Approval. So it should be at Imagine by Mid October.

I think, well realistically I know that I am sort of setting myself up for a court closure referral. Right now the wait time is 6+ months ...some have been waiting 7 m...so I am gonna say 8 months for referral. And that would put me mid July..so no court date before closure. Hopefully that won't happen..but better to prepare for that than not.

Updating my homestudy brought back all the emotions of the first one I did over 2 1/2years ago. I had some stress (well a lot) of stress associated with that first homestudy..so it brought back some of those old emotions tonight. But I feel good about the meeting and hope for a quick provincial approval!

So here it goes...I will keep updating this blog on process number 2!!
Louise

One year of being an Official Family

One year ago, was the day we all wait for...the day when the courts in Ethiopia made me legally Nathaniel's mommy. I waited 4 days to hear about the results of this day..it was a very long long 4 days...but yay!!!
And on this one year anniversary..I guess I will share the new big news. Nathaniel is going to be a big brother!!! I am starting the paperwork with the province and Imagine Adoption Agency to start another Ethiopian Adoption. It will be a while before my file leaves for Ethiopia but it is a start!!! Wow...its exciting and a bit daunting remembering what all that paperwork and waiting felt like..but it will be great!!
I will be asking for a girl under 24 months..hoping that this wait won't be as long as the last. Again I have lots of paperwork, people to approve this second adoption, and money (yeah thats fun) to pay..so it will be a process..and I hope everything goes smoothly.

Louise

212 days since I left for Ethiopia

Wow it just hit me..its been 212 days since I left for Ethiopia...wow!!!! That is crazy!!! I can't believe we have been home for sooo long and then in the same breath hasn't Nathaniel just always been here. Its a funny feeling...I know he wasn't but he has grown his way into this home and heart sooo fully that it's hard to remember what we all did before Nathaniel!! (okay well I guess I can remember the 100 times a day email checking!!!)
Louise

A day late..but our final trek home

November 12, 2007 we woke up in the Sheraton Hotel..so glad to have our first morning in Canada. Nathaniel was wide awake...hillary was still very sick..so Nathaniel and I left her to sleep and we wandered the hotel. The front desk staff fell in love with him...couldn't get over how we had just flown home. We had a nice breakfast and made our way back up to the room. Nathaniel had been given a bib and giraffe at the restaurant. The bib says The Sheraton Loves(heart) me. ITs very cute!!
Before we knew it, it was time to go...my dad met us at the hotel room and we called for the porter. Somehow time got away from us and the porter was a good twenty minutes before arriving to bring us and our bags to the gate. IT was 35 mins before the flight by the time we checked in and I was a little worried that we would miss our flight (or that they wouldn't let us board). Our porter reassured me that we were fine and not to worry...thank goodness for the porter..they come with a great cart and get you all checked in.
We checked in and basically boarded the flight right away. We had a row of three seats to ourselves which was soo nice as Nathaniel was awake that flight. We changed planes in Montreal and boarded a very small prop plane (45 or so seats). We were finally on our way home.
When the captain announced our arrival in to Fredericton, I was in tears...sooo happy to finally be home. We got off the plane and gathered our belongings. I had no idea who would he at the airport but suspected there might be a crowd (as a side note..I always wonder what other passengers think as they walk into the terminal and hear the sighs of dissapointment that its not the family everyone is waiting for..I think it must be very funny!!).
My mom was as close to the door as I suspect the security guard let her come. I could not hug her long enough.. there were sooo many families and friends at the airport that I had tunnel vision..I couldn't even see straight. I know I missed saying hi to some families on the first go around..and then when I looked back and noticed them there..funny! I remember saying to someone where is Lisa G..I couldn't see her..but she was on the other side of the room. It was soo nice that finally we were both home with our kids! What a great day!!! We got everyone and everything loaded into the van and cars..and headed home!

Louise

Almost 5 months Home

Sporting the I am exhausted look in the Airport on our way home!


Nathaniel slept well on the flight from Addis to Jordan


Home for 5 Months....has he grown or what!

I don't update this very often anymore...but thought I would write a little post today as we are nearing 5 months being home. In fact tonight will be our 5 month landed in Canada anniversary. (bet they don't make a hallmark for that). The end of this month will mark 6 months of being a family as our family day was Oct 31, halloween.
So 5 months ago I boarded a plane at 4 in the morning in Addis...knowing that we were on our way home. As we sat in the airport waiting to depart I couldn't help but all ready miss the city. I also knew that I was taking my son away from all that was familiar..smells, sights, people, language, food...but we were heading home where new memories would be made and old ones would be treasured. Boarding the plane it was a nice surprise to see the air flight attendant was one of the same ones we had on our way to Addis. She wasn't suppose to be working..but there she was. What a gift as she was sooo excited when I told her why I was going to Ethiopia. She brought Nathaniel this sweet little BMI bear...it still sits in his toychest.

5 months ago we waited and waited at the London Airport...waiting to board that last long flight home. Anxious to be done with flying, living out of suitcases, and just wanted to be home. We were greeted in the Immigration department at the Toronto airport by two very proud Great Aunt and Uncle to help us through the Landing process (it sure is nice to have an aunt and uncle who works in the citizenship and immigration of the Pearson International Airport..another blessing). I filled out all the necessary paperwork (with my uncle leading me through it) and my aunt excitedly showed off her new nephew to all of the staff in the department.

5 months ago we arrived into the Sheraton Airport Hotel and by 9 pm were collapsed on the bed exhausted. Hillary (my sister and travel pal) was sick as a dog (later we found that she had strep throat)..she had chills and hot flashes, felt soo sick that she couldn't eat a bite of the overpriced room service..and I was so tired all I managed was a few bites of my sandwhich and some chocolate milk..and a few bites of cheesecake (milk ummmm missed that sooo much in Addis). So our 100 dollars (ouch) worth of roomservice was not well eaten (we had good intentions and felt famished when we ordered..but not so much I guess). A funny little story..when I ordered the room service I asked for a bottle of water to make Nathaniel's bottle. Then I called back and said ohhh geeez I don't need bottled water anymore..I can use tap water hahahaha...the woman must have thought I had lost my mind!

More tommorrow on our final flight home..

Attention

I don't know who keeps posting these comments..but I would ask you to STOP! They are a waste of time..I certainly have no intention of accepting them nor will I be linking to the site. I keep getting comments like this " see here" or "warning see here"...and there is a link to a site which I will not link to...thinking its probably a virus or something. Has anyone else been getting them? The last one I got was from a user name of "duran".

Louise

Rest of the Trip

Kids Hope

Kids Hope

Roses

Nathaniel sleeping just before we are ready to go

All my bags are packed, I'm Ready to go!

So the last few days in Addis, we spent shopping on Churchill Road as well as a little shop that Selamneh takes all the families to. The shop has a bit of everything in it. We went twice to here, and on the second time I found a beautiful necklace with round pieces of ebony wood..its two toned, one light wood colour and one black. It is another favourite piece that I brought home. The shop was full of lots of treasures.
On Thursday Hillary went to the Kids Hope in the morning, and in the afternoon we both went to AHOPE. I have no pics of AHOPE, just video, as we signed an agreement that we would not take any still shots of any one child individually. The children (for those who don't know) are all HIV positive. We were at the younger children's AHIPE (There are two separate ones). The youngest was 9 months and the oldest there was about 6 I believe. It was sooo hard to look at all these Children and know what struggles they would face in the Children. They were excited to have visitors, and one little boy showed me his picture and name, and also named off all his friends. Hillary helped feed the 9 month old...to this days she still gets very emotional when she thinks of this tiny little boy and wonders what has become of him. It was so very sad,...and these are the children who are getting help, the ones who are being cared for, treated, and given the medications they need...there are sooo many more who are not.
Saturday was a day we spent finishing up packing, visiting with the other families. We made one last trip to Churchill road as well...Hillary stayed home with Nathaniel that day so I could do some shopping solo....Nathaniel napped and I shopped...good combo hunh! The Weygoss Guesthouse put on a coffee ceremony for us that evening...and the other families were ready to depart by 9 pm that evening. We still had a few extra hours as our flight left at 4 the next morning. We had ordered one last meal from the well loved restaurant Ice Blue. Our waiter had become a friendly familiar face over the last week and we told him that today was our last day. That evening he once again demonstrated how kind and caring the Ethiopian people are. As a thank you he brought us 2 roses...one for each Hillary and I....I was soo touched by this gesture. It was so completely unexpected and so very sweet! We thanked him. Unfortunately because of customs we knew we would not be able to bring this back to Canada...dissapointing. We finished packing, and tried to sleep..unfortunately Nathaniel (aware of something happening) would not settle till 1130 that night and so I got only about 45 mins of sleep before having to start lugging the luggage downstairs. On the way down the stairs some very nice Italian families who had just arrived, helped me bring the bags down the two flights of stairs. Nathaniel slept right till we got to the airport. Selamneh and Berthe drove us to the airport. It was soo sweet of Berthe to stay up late and come along to say goodbye...she has become a friend (she also lives in Fredericton) and I am so happy to have shared our experience of bringing Nathaniel home with her. It was very hard to say goodbye..and we didn't want to leave. We trugged up the incline to the airport and loaded our luggage on the xray machine. The attendant offered to hold Nathaniel (who had woken up). So once all that was done, we went off to check in at the ticket booth, and then stood in line for immigration and passport check. There were about 40 women, children, and some men in line ahead of us. The guard by the diplomat line (which was empty), waved us over. I was confused, but went to him...he ushered us through the diplomat line. Hillary (who is very much into fairness and social justice) was put out that we bumped in line and didn't have to wait like everyone else. I agreed...but at the same time, I wanted to get Nathaniel settled and into the secured area. We waited in the airport restaurant, and then wandered around untill we were given the okay to go through security and into the secure area to wait for our flight. Nathaniel stayed awake the entire time. Once on the plane it didn't take long for him to settle to sleep. We actually met back up with a flight attendant who we had on the way down...so that was really neat to see her again.
Nathaniel did soo well on the flights, he slept 14 out of 18 hrs of flying.....I however only slept about 1 hr out of that same time..mostly because I was holding him and afraid I would drop him if I fell asleep. Hillary was quite sick on the way home...she actually had tonsilitis..but we didn't know. She had the hot flashes, and chills, was exhausted and feeling very unwell most of the way home...so was not able to help me much on the flights.
Arriving finally in Toronto, we were met at the Canadian immigration and customs by my Aunt and Uncle (who both happen to have worked and still work there for the past 25 years). So they were able to walk us right through the process at the special both for employees. It made it sooo easy and it was nice to have them there. We took the "secret way" as my uncle said, and snuck up behind my Dad and step mom to surprise them..that was funny! We all headed over to the Sheraton at the Airport and visited for about an hour, ordered way too much room service (which we did not eat half of...except the cheesecake and chocolate milk haha), and fell into our beds. I have to say that stopping I think is why we did not suffer much from Jet Leg. Nathaniel has slept on Canadian time since we landed in Toronto..So I feel very lucky.

Well that is it...the rest of my trip...I told you I would blog it eventually. In case you didn't know, my one year old can run circles on me...he is GO GO GO every minute of the day. Luckily he hasn't learnt to run yet...watch out!!!
Louise

Buy of the Week

So I thought I would start telling you about the great buys I sometimes get! I love to shop .....but right now on Parental Leave I don't have very much money...thus I love to shop bargains :) :)
So this week (I know I have barely been home for 2 days from Florida), Nathaniel and I went to Walmart and Zellers.
So in Walmart I got this train table by STEP 2. It is plastic, comes witha little automatic train and a bridge and train station. Nathaniel has become very adept at pulling off the train bridge.( Ahh oh well) It was normally 69.99 and I got it for 30.00 on sale. Good buy hunh!

Louise

Day 8...Wednesday

In the morning Hillary and some from the group went to Entoto mountain, I had decided to take the morning to just spend with Nathaniel at the guesthouse. Around 10, one of the other moms told me they were heading to the Sheraton to go to the Park there, we decided to join them.
The park really wasn't for Nathaniel's age, so we ended up exploring the Sheraton a bit more, and hung out by the fountains and enjoyed the fresh air. It was nice to have some quiet down time with him by myself. Hillary really enjoyed Entoto mountain and the church they went to.
The afternoon we went to Liga School...this was a highlight of our trip. Once again I found myself very emotional..especially while looking at all the sweet boys in the class thinking that this could have been my son. And these kids are the ones who are getting the help. This school does sooo much with so little. The rooms are litterally made out of corugated Sheet Metal...there are litterally 40 + kids in this tiny room. We brought granola bars and other things to hand out. The kids sang and danced for us. One little girl who was outside most of the time really touched my heart and the hearts of all the moms there. She was sooo sweet. Her name was Minuette. She was about 6 and had the biggest grin! Such a sweetie with I think a mischevious side to her.
Louise

Trying to Finish up the rest of our trip

Area where the Kechene Women's Pottery is Located

Surroundings

The big ditch

The materials for making the poottery






So I am feeling bad that I never finished Blogging about our trip..I will try to do so now!
Tuesday we went to the Pottery Factory. The other families had gone on Saturday while Hillary was ill, so we had yet to go. Selemnah took us...along the way we saw poverty unlike anything we had seen prior to this point. It was devastating to see what these people survived with. Their shops were smaller than my bathroom..and not only was it their shop..but it was also where they lived. They had soooo little...yet some still had smiles on the face. It really is something..that those who have the least are some of the kindest, happiest, gentle souls I have ever met. AND in comparison those who live in this country...who have everything never seems to be quite happy enough, never seem to have quite enough, always needing the newest, biggest, better thing. On the way to the Pottery Factory, Selamneh had to make a quick side trip to check out an area where Berthe was to go to for a meeting the next day. It was down a very bumpy road with deep ditches on either side. It was fun...untill he had to turn around...I don't know how he managed not to get those back wheels into the ditch..but he did it! Amazing....I am shocked how they get themselves into and out of the smallest or tightest spots. Driving in Addis is not for the light of heart. When we arrived in addis...my sister asked where the seatbelt was. Selamneh overheard her ask me this..and he said "forget Canada" hahaha.
The pottery shop was amazing. Nathaniel was sound asleep..and Selamneh offered to hold him so I could take a look around easily. We had a great time here..and I found my most prized possession from Ethiopia. A handmade Nativiy...it is simple and beautiful..but such a family treasure that will be passed down to Nathaniel when he has his own family someday.


In the afternoon, we took our donations and gifts back to the foster home. I felt quite teary here as I knew it was likely the last time Nathaniel would see the women who took care of him for the last 7 months for a while. Yes we will go back to visit, but when and I don't know if the same caregivers will be there. It was hard because I was taking him from all that was familiar to him, the sights, smells and sounds of the fosterhome and Ethiopia was all he has known. I presented Haregewain with the gift from everyone..and got a big hug from her as well. As we were leaving Sinyet (sp??) came into the hallway and saw Nathaniel...she called his name, and he turned his head. I leaned him into her and she held him for a short period. It was nice that she was able to see him again. Then he reached his arms out for me...which I have to say melted my heart...he really did know me :) :)
We said our goodbyes and were on our way back to the guesthouse.
I will add some pics of the day above.
Louise