Why our Case is Pending

The reason is that a letter from a government agency was not ready for court. They didn't get it done in time so the judge was not able to look at our case two days ago. The next opening for court was January 13th so it was rescheduled for this day. Unfortunately that is about three weeks away.

How will this affect our traveling? Well, since we didn't pass court, our wait to travel after court,(8-16 weeks), did not begin. If we pass in January, then we might leave at the earliest in late February or March. Which was definitely not what we had been hoping.

Merry Christmas, Everyone! Have a Wonderful Day!
Emily

Update, Bad News

We just received bad news that our case is pending. That means no court today. And we have to wait until January 13th for our next court date.

We are sorry today's court date didn't work out, but know that God is taking care of it all and everything will go according to His plan which is ALWAYS best.

Thank you for your prayers.

Court Day!

Please be praying as the judge is given our case today in Ethiopia!! We will find out tomorrow whether we passed court. From there, we make plans for traveling!

Merry Christmas!
Emily

News!

Not only is it three days until court day, but yesterday we received a report on Belly Boy called his social report. In it were more recent photos, (Oh, the difference! And he is so cute and handsome!). The nannies also helped write a report telling us his likes, dislikes, his favorite things to eat and do, and that he is really outgoing!

He likes pasta like Sports Dude and hates rice. He sounds so adorable!!! We can't wait to bring him home.

In the pictures, there were about three pictures all with him on a riding airplane toy. My parents immediately got on the computer, and found and bought the toy so that he will have a familiar toy when he comes home. We were also excited when we recognized several of our own toys in a video of the care center where he is at.

So we were all thrilled to get the update and to see more recent photos of him. I love his hair!! It's so soft and bushy!!

Our Package for Belly Boy

Our social worker told us that we could send a package to Belly Boy. We send it to a social worker who will send it with a family who is leaving to get their child. We just sent our package two days ago. (Sorry to those of you whom I told otherwise, I was really confused. Surprised? :)  I am sharing pictures of the stuff we are sending him. These picutures were taken just for this blog!!

Here it all is spread out...

This is a squishy photo, baby book that Belly Boy can look at, chew on, and drool on. It has pictures of all of us, (including him),  individually and a pic. of our dog as we hear Ethiopian babies are sometimes scared of pets, and one of our house. We put labels in English underneath the pictures so the nannies can tell Belly Boy who everyone is, (if they are able to read it).

A toy car for him to play with. The sad part is that we understand that the care center tries to work on sharing with everyone so Belly Boy may not end up playing with it very much. Other kids will play with it too. It may even get lost they said.

A blankie. Soft, big, and hopefully he will love it.

We had to pack it all up in a ziploc bag. One thing not shown is a laminated picture of our family for Belly Boy to look at, (and drool on).

We planned on sending this extremely soft, small, (about washcloth size), blankie for Belly Boy to cuddle with, but when we learned about things being lost easily, we decided to take it with us when we travel instead of sending it now.

Orphan Sunday

Orphan Sunday Link, (Click here)

Here is that orphan Sunday video I was talking about in one of my older posts. Please take time to watch it! I can guarantee you it will be worth it.

At about the the 40 minute mark, some children who make up the Children of the World International Children's Choir sing for about 10 minutes or more. Not only are they adorable, but they have some great,  ethusiastic songs. This was the hit of the entire video to me.

Enjoy!
Em

Newest Update- Court Date

We have a court date!!!!! December 21st is our court date! What does this mean? It means that people in Ethiopia will bring our case of adopting Belly Boy to an Ethiopian judge who will decide whether we may adopt him. Sometimes families don't pass the first time, but we are praying that we do, so that we may leave as early as February to get Belly Boy, (the adoption agency says 8-16 weeks after passing court, the family will travel)!

Very exciting! And it'll be an awesome Christmas present if we pass!

So that's the update o'er here.

(This doesn't mean we will be traveling Dec. 21st. This is just a court date, but definitely a huge step if we pass)!