Friday, October 16, 2009
WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!
We received word this afternoon that we have a court date -- OCTOBER 27th!! It is less than two weeks away! This is very surprising -- AND WONDERFUL -- news!! We were expecting to wait much longer before we were assigned a court date. While this is a huge milestone in our adoption process, it is also a HUGE HURDLE that has yet to be accomplished. There is by no means a guarantee that we will pass court on our first try. Many, many things have to come together just perfectly for us to pass that day, and the only way that will happen is by the grace of God. Please continue to keep us and Ari in your prayers. We are still hoping to have this little boy home for Christmas!!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Court Update
I just thought I'd let everyone know that the Ethiopian courts reopened this past Monday, October 12th. We have not heard any news specific to us yet, but we are very, very, very happy to know that the court doors are indeed open and cases are being heard, paperwork filed, etc. I read an Internet rumor that the courts delayed opening by a week for training because -- here's the interesting/maybe rumor part -- all of the judges from before court closure resigned. Seriously, what does that mean? I'm trying not to let it bother me, but wow, that's disturbing. The good news is court has been reopen for three days now and I've read/heard about multiple cases passing already and a whole lot of cases being filed. This is good news, for sure, so maybe we needed some new judges? If there's anyone out there who has some concrete information on this, I'd love to hear it.
We also received two new pictures of Ari yesterday. Roger and I are still priding ourselves on the fact that we were able to recognize him from approximately 30 pictures of, well, 30 other babies. He. is. gorgeous. And his hair has grown a lot in the last month! And we were lucky enough to get a picture of him awake and holy cow his eyes are amazing. And he has chubby little fat rolls on his legs. Oh, he just melts me. Please pray for Ari's continued health/well-being and for us to receive a quick court date. I know there's so many of our friends and family out there thinking of us, wishing there was something that could be done that would make this process move faster, and if we could all just direct our thoughts and wishes into prayer, I think it would be so powerful. Thank you again to all of you for your continued support.
We also received two new pictures of Ari yesterday. Roger and I are still priding ourselves on the fact that we were able to recognize him from approximately 30 pictures of, well, 30 other babies. He. is. gorgeous. And his hair has grown a lot in the last month! And we were lucky enough to get a picture of him awake and holy cow his eyes are amazing. And he has chubby little fat rolls on his legs. Oh, he just melts me. Please pray for Ari's continued health/well-being and for us to receive a quick court date. I know there's so many of our friends and family out there thinking of us, wishing there was something that could be done that would make this process move faster, and if we could all just direct our thoughts and wishes into prayer, I think it would be so powerful. Thank you again to all of you for your continued support.
Friday, October 9, 2009
IF...
I have a strange feeling that IF Mr. Ari was home right now he would be with Abby and one (or both) Grandma's. Headed to JCPenney for a 3-month-old, $4.99, portrait setting. Today marks the 3-month anniversary of the day he was born. We are still patiently waiting for any news about court. Until then we just keep looking at pictures we have and praying for his health and comfort. Hopefully we will get lots of news in the coming weeks. Courts are "scheduled" to open next week and we are expecting more pictures from a traveling family. This is exactly what we signed up for, but still hard life.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Waiting, Waiting, Waiting....for ARI
Yes, we finally told the grandparents and family our little guy's name! We got sick of waiting. Imagine that! Us, sick of waiting! In case you've never heard it, it's pronounced like this -- "R.E." Not like Ariel on the Little Mermaid. Roger suggested the name Ari many, many moons ago, before we even decided to adopt, and it's always stuck with us. We love it. And we think he looks like an Ari. So there you have it! Now if I could just post his face with his name!
On a crappy note, we found out yesterday that the Ethiopian courts have delayed their re-opening. All summer we were told courts would be reopening on October 5th. Now there is talk they won't open until October 12th due to training. Or maybe even later depending on where you get your information. It really sucks. We are trying to remain optimistic. And patient. Really trying. We are sooooo over waiting. We have been waiting for so long, I can't remember what it feels like to not be waiting. You'd think we would have made Waiting our friend by now since he's been a part of our lives for so long. But, no. We despise him. We are ready for the next phase of our life to begin, thank you very much.
To be clear, we are not expecting to be assigned a court date the minute court opens because, seriously, that is just completely unrealistic. We were just hoping to hear sometime in October that we have been assigned a court date and then to actually go to court and pass by the end of the year. That's not too much to ask for; right? And that could technically still happen, but with all the unexpected, never-ending delays, I think the chances of that coming to fruition are getting slimmer and slimmer. Maybe he'll be home by Valentine's Day. I should probably set my sights on that now instead of Christmas.
To all of you Ethiopian adoptive families out there (or anyone else who just wants to stay in the know), I've found a blog that has proven to be a great resource for getting reliable Ethiopian adoption-related information. It was started this past spring during the abandonment issues, but it has continued on it because it is such a great resource. It is http://www.ethioadoptionnews.blogspot.com/. Basically it works like this: Adoptive (waiting) families can email what their agency has told them about court, embassy, MOWA, change in procedures, wait times, etc., and then the blog administrator posts anonymously all the different emails she's received. The source of the information is not revealed (i.e., what specific agency is saying what), but you basically get to look at the whole picture and get an overall sense of what multiple agencies are telling their families and then decide for yourself what is most likely to be true depending on how many agencies are saying the same thing. To rely on one agency (even your own!) for timely updates and info we've come to learn is pretty ineffective and scarce.
So there's our update. I apologize for the lack of blogging. It's mostly because we haven't had anything exciting to talk about . We're just anxiously awaiting court to re-open and to get assigned a court date. Mostly we're just trying to not get sucked into the suckiness of this waiting, and that sometimes includes taking a break from the blog. We have done so well since receiving his referral; we're just trying to stay distracted and busy so we don't go back to the not-so-great emotional place we were about two months ago. We have received some beautiful pictures of Ari, though, and for that we are so grateful. He is a beautiful baby, and I'm not just saying that. And he looks really healthy and peaceful. He's sleeping in all but three pictures we've received so far. Hopefully that habit will continue on when he gets home?!? In some ways his pictures make the waiting easier and in some ways it makes it harder. I look at his pictures and just want to reach my hands into the photograph and pick him up. I have a conversation with myself on a daily basis how it would be totally reasonable and financially feasible for me to fly to Ethiopia and visit him, meet him, love on him, let him know that he has two parents who are just beside themselves with anticipation to love him and make him the center of their world. And then that thought process leads to how it would be more than fine if I just stayed over there and visited him every day at the orphanage until we pass court.....and then Roger gets there ....and we go to our embassy appointment...and get on an airplane and fly home. Someday.
On a crappy note, we found out yesterday that the Ethiopian courts have delayed their re-opening. All summer we were told courts would be reopening on October 5th. Now there is talk they won't open until October 12th due to training. Or maybe even later depending on where you get your information. It really sucks. We are trying to remain optimistic. And patient. Really trying. We are sooooo over waiting. We have been waiting for so long, I can't remember what it feels like to not be waiting. You'd think we would have made Waiting our friend by now since he's been a part of our lives for so long. But, no. We despise him. We are ready for the next phase of our life to begin, thank you very much.
To be clear, we are not expecting to be assigned a court date the minute court opens because, seriously, that is just completely unrealistic. We were just hoping to hear sometime in October that we have been assigned a court date and then to actually go to court and pass by the end of the year. That's not too much to ask for; right? And that could technically still happen, but with all the unexpected, never-ending delays, I think the chances of that coming to fruition are getting slimmer and slimmer. Maybe he'll be home by Valentine's Day. I should probably set my sights on that now instead of Christmas.
To all of you Ethiopian adoptive families out there (or anyone else who just wants to stay in the know), I've found a blog that has proven to be a great resource for getting reliable Ethiopian adoption-related information. It was started this past spring during the abandonment issues, but it has continued on it because it is such a great resource. It is http://www.ethioadoptionnews.blogspot.com/. Basically it works like this: Adoptive (waiting) families can email what their agency has told them about court, embassy, MOWA, change in procedures, wait times, etc., and then the blog administrator posts anonymously all the different emails she's received. The source of the information is not revealed (i.e., what specific agency is saying what), but you basically get to look at the whole picture and get an overall sense of what multiple agencies are telling their families and then decide for yourself what is most likely to be true depending on how many agencies are saying the same thing. To rely on one agency (even your own!) for timely updates and info we've come to learn is pretty ineffective and scarce.
So there's our update. I apologize for the lack of blogging. It's mostly because we haven't had anything exciting to talk about . We're just anxiously awaiting court to re-open and to get assigned a court date. Mostly we're just trying to not get sucked into the suckiness of this waiting, and that sometimes includes taking a break from the blog. We have done so well since receiving his referral; we're just trying to stay distracted and busy so we don't go back to the not-so-great emotional place we were about two months ago. We have received some beautiful pictures of Ari, though, and for that we are so grateful. He is a beautiful baby, and I'm not just saying that. And he looks really healthy and peaceful. He's sleeping in all but three pictures we've received so far. Hopefully that habit will continue on when he gets home?!? In some ways his pictures make the waiting easier and in some ways it makes it harder. I look at his pictures and just want to reach my hands into the photograph and pick him up. I have a conversation with myself on a daily basis how it would be totally reasonable and financially feasible for me to fly to Ethiopia and visit him, meet him, love on him, let him know that he has two parents who are just beside themselves with anticipation to love him and make him the center of their world. And then that thought process leads to how it would be more than fine if I just stayed over there and visited him every day at the orphanage until we pass court.....and then Roger gets there ....and we go to our embassy appointment...and get on an airplane and fly home. Someday.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
One liners
It's been a while since either of us posted. Here's a quick rundown of what's been going on:
- Thanks to Amanda for the new blog look. We needed a change and she totally hooked us up. On a related note, thanks to Courtney for the referral of Amanda.
- Thanks for NY Kate and IA Kelly for coming in this past weekend. I'm pretty sure all had a great time.
- Thanks for Neighbor Jeremy for the PBR hook-up this weekend. Who knew that Bull Riding was so amazing. And who knew that my wife would rather watch bull riding than the Emmys.
- My dog Jill started her own Twitter Account
- USC Football lost. Figures.
- Mom and Pop Wasson are both sick, so we haven't been able to announce Baby Wasson's name to them...or the world. (Maybe that will help them get better.....faster)
- Abby and I are trying to plan an Ethiopian Adoption Gathering for early October
- Abby and I are trying to plan a Vegas trip for this fall...anyone want to go?
Other than that, life as usual around the Wasson Household. We are still waiting for courts to open in Ethiopia (rumor date of October 6th) -- We probably won't know anything more about the next step until October 6th --- but it will probably be a while longer before we hear anything. Until then we are just happy that families traveling to Ethiopia have been able to take pictures for us. He looks great. Can't wait to introduce you to him.
Monday, September 14, 2009
An introduction
Ever since my junior year in college, I have spent my Monday nights in Rogersville, MO, watching WWE (wrastlin') with my Gramps. It started out as a way for me to spend some time with him and get to watch WWE. Well, 14 years later I am still spending my Monday nights with Gramps. He makes me microwave popcorn and hands me a can of Diet Pepsi. Same thing for 14+ years. And, honestly, I wouldn't change a thing.
With all of our IVF and other science fiction, I never shared any of our trials and tribulations with Gramps. For goodness sakes, he's 92 years old and listens to the TV at volume level 51. It takes a lot to carry on a long conversation. This week was my first week to see Gramps since we had our referral and I had pictures to show him. I did as best as I could to try and explain everything to him, and I think he got it. He just kept saying how great it was and how excited he was for me and Abby. For once I was thinking and got out my iPhone to take a picture.
With all of our IVF and other science fiction, I never shared any of our trials and tribulations with Gramps. For goodness sakes, he's 92 years old and listens to the TV at volume level 51. It takes a lot to carry on a long conversation. This week was my first week to see Gramps since we had our referral and I had pictures to show him. I did as best as I could to try and explain everything to him, and I think he got it. He just kept saying how great it was and how excited he was for me and Abby. For once I was thinking and got out my iPhone to take a picture.
Below is Gramps getting a glimpse of his 13th (I think) great-grandchild for the first time.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Package to Ethiopia
Below is the care package Roger and I sent to Ethiopia, via the good hands of a family with our agency traveling to bring their baby boy home this week. We also sent some formula. It doesn't seem like much, but it's our first "connection" to the little guy. We have been very, very lucky and have already received four more pictures of him via other traveling families since receiving his referral. He continues to look healthy and growing -- as much as we can tell from a picture, anyway!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
We conquered Quandary
We arrived in Breckenridge on Sunday around 5:00. I had altitude sickness around 4:59. We had a fun night with Watson and Chris & Fara -- then went to bed early. And it was a good thing. Yesterday Abby and I went on our first "Colorado Hike." Thanks to the Fadlers and Watson, we were able to conquer Quandary.....a 14,265 ft peak just outside of Breckenridge. I've always wanted to have one of those pictures of me overlooking a huge mountain-scape. Thanks to Watson andFadler we survived and made it to the summit. We traveled approximately 3100 ft up -- somewhere around a 3 mile hike. It took us about 3.5 hours to get to the top, we took some pictures and tried to catch our breath, then headed back down. It still took 2 hours to get to the bottom. It was truly amazing and challenging and beautiful and the reason my legs are burning today.
The photo I've always wanted
The crew at the top of the Summit
Freezing at 14,265
Abby at the top of Quandary -- sign says 14,265 ft
The photo I've always wanted
The crew at the top of the Summit
Freezing at 14,265
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