Christmas Decorating

If you follow this blog, you may have noticed that I frequently change my background. I can't seem to find a Christmas template that I love, so I think that I just might keep changing it until Christmas. You'll have to keep logging on to see what template will be next.

Normally, I love to decorate for Christmas, but not passing court has put a little bit of a damper on my Christmas spirit. Evan convinced me that decorating would help me feel better, so I put up our tree and some lights. It isn't my best work, but I thought I would share some pics anyway.

Court Date # 2

Hope did not pass her court date last week. A new form required for relinquished children was missing, and now we have a new court date for January 15. The wait continues!

Waiting.

The court date to declare our daughter an orphan was on Tuesday, and we are still waiting to hear the outcome. I'm not sure why it is taking so long for our Ethiopian facilitator to email us the courts decision. Whatever the reason, the wait has been very stressful. All of us, including Shorty, are ready to go get our little girl.

I'm hoping that my next post will be soon, and will be good news.

HAPPY ELECTION DAY!!!!

Halloween Humiliation 2008

The Hunchback of Chestnut Hill....Quasi"shorto"

The curse of William Penn is broken!!!!

Way to go Phillies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tagged (useless tidbits about me).

Leah tagged me, so here it goes...


1. I'm a Duranie. As teenagers, my friends and I were obsessed with them; our bedrooms were wallpapered with their pictures. We would even bake cakes, and have a B-day parties for John, Simon and Nick...Andy and Roger didn't make the cut. I saw them in concert 3 years ago, and lost my voice for two days from screaming (I was 38 years old).


FYI, Simon turns 50 tomorrow. Happy Birthday Simon!

2. If I were on death row, I would choose my Mom's chocolate cake as my last meal.


3. I hate Injera; it seriously makes me gag. Would it be wrong of me to let Hope believe that Naan (Indian Cuisine) is Injera?

4. I met Joe Strummer while living in NYC. I love the Clash, so this was a really big deal for me.


5. Other career paths I would have chosen ...Primatologist, Zoologist, Paranormal Investigator.


6. For the life of me, I cannot understand the fascination with "American Idol" and "Dancing with the Stars." Give me "The Office" over those two shows any day.


7. I'm spoiled. I have a wonderful husband who loves to cook. I'm treated to gourmet meals almost every night.

I don't know how to link to the tagging rules, so I skipped that part. I also think that everyone I know has already been tagged.

Steph

Court Date!

Today we received our court date for November 25, 2008. The purpose of this appointment is to confirm that the child is an orphan, or has been legitimately relinquished, and to approve the adoption. It is not uncommon for there to be multiple court dates, either due to missing paper work, witnesses not showing up, or power outages, so we do not travel for this date. Instead we have a facilitator from our agency, who represents us in court.

Once we pass court, we wait for an Embassy date. The Embassy date is usually one to two months after a successful court date, and that is when we go to Africa for our little girl.

Everyone please keep your fingers crossed that we pass our first date so that Hope can come home early in the New Year.

This is "Sherman the dog." He is one of many stuffed animals eagerly awaiting the arrival of the little girl who will love and cherish him forever.

Some light at the end of the tunnel

We received our I-171H today. Now all we need is a court date.

Tuesday Morning Blues.

Oh well, we'll get them next time.

I hope everyone likes my blogs new fall look.

Are you ready for some football!!!

Shorty is!

Shorty's Celebration!

On Saturday August 23, 2008 we received our referral for a beautiful infant girl.

Shorty was so happy. He jumped right into his bed and demanded a belly rub. We think his expression pretty much sums up the happiness all of us are feeling.

Baby Einstein

We are finally making some progress on the nursery, and Einstein thinks that we are creating a room just for him. He refuses to get off of the day bed.


I'm almost done with my tree, but it still needs a second coat. I'm pretty please with how it turned out. I'll keep posting pics as the room comes together. Decorating has really helped us stay occupied as we wait for our referral.

Must See TV!

Tonight is the TV premiere of "Long Way Down" a ten episode series, that chronicles the motorcycle journey of Ewan McGregor (Star Wars/Moulin Rouge) from Scottland to South Africa. I saw the trailor for this show, and I think it will appeal to all of us adopting from Ethiopia.

The show is being broadcast on Fox Reality at 9pm EST.

Ewan recently put out the following public service announcement for UNICEF. I found this on Perez Hilton (one of my guilty pleasures).
http://perezhilton.com/tv/?videoid=c5001fc9b2c13

Scenes from the country.

We spent this weekend at my in-law's beautiful country house on the PA/NY border. This is one our favorite places on earth, and we can't wait to share it with our daughter.

You never know what type of wild life you will see there. On one occasion we saw a porcupine, up close, while hiking, and last week we saw two sets of fawns with there Mothers. This weekend, as we swam in the pool, we watched a momma bird feed her young. The nest is perched on the pools cabana, and I was able to get this picture without disturbing the babies or the momma bird.


Shorty also enjoys his time in the country. He decided to work on his tan this weekend!

Room for Hope

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend!

Well, we made two important decisions over the last few weeks. First, we decided on a name. It was a struggle between Hope and Violet, but Hope came out on top. The middle name is still TBD, but it will be an Ethiopian name.

We also got started on the nursery. After testing a number of pinks and greens on the wall, we decided that pink looked best. I have attached pictures of the room and our bedding. It looks pretty barren, but the furniture should be arriving soon.I'm also going to attempt to paint a tree on one of the walls. I saw it in a PB Kids catalog and loved the look. If all goes well, I will post the finished product (if not, there is a lot of pink paint left).

New to Blogging

We are, hopefully, a week away from completing our dossier, and then the wait begins. I thought that starting a blog would be the best way to pass time, and keep our family and friends updated on our progress. I'm also hoping that it keeps me off the Pottery Barn Kids website!

I hope you enjoy our journey!