Vegas Baby...Yeah!

Vegas was incredibly overstimulating. I think if I lived there I might develope seizures. Serious lights, sound, smoke, heat, food, money, sin.....and every other little thing. With that said....Awesome.

We had soooo much fun. T and I had never been there. Can say we never really wanted to go there. But we had the opportunity to go with two of our most fabulous friends S & B, and we had a ball. S got us a super deal with Allegiance Air and Ceasar's Palace. And, what better time to go to Vegas for the first time, but your 41st Birthday! That's right, old man time has once again placed another heavy year on my tired shoulders. We did a bit of everything. We drank (not much, but some :)), we ate, we gambled (for 20 minutes!), we ate some more, we shopped, and we walked and walked and walked and walked. We walked until our blisters had blisters. We walked until we very nearly dropped. And, we saw some shows. Ah, the shows. The best we saw was The Beatles Love - Cirque Du Soleil. S got us seats in row 4. Had to be the best seats in the house. It was soooooo astonishingly good that I was seriously near tears.

So I am older, yes. Wiser, perhaps. And, I have been to Vegas!

Wallowing?.....perhaps a little.

Last week was tough. I had a day of tortuous red-eyed, self pitying...wallowing. Lots of why mes. But, past that. If you know me then you know that I am by description, pessimistic. The classic glass half empty gal. Actually mostly glass empty gal. I used to refer to myself as an idealist, but really, honestly, pessimistic fits.

Now last week, I actually thought we would pass Court without a problem. I experienced a momentary lapse of pessimism and was positive we would pass. WHAM. Guess that is what you get when you deviate from your true self.

Honestly, pessimism has been given a bad rap. I say that because when you expect the worst then you are pleasantly surprised when things go your way. Perhaps I have never felt worthy. Sorta, why would things go MY way. Why do I deserve it. Ya know what I mean? I really tried positive thinking. I gave it a shot. But let me tell you, when you expect something to happen and it doesn't, it really, really sucks!

For now, and really everyday of my life, my fate is in God's hands. Ultimately, he is in control of my destiny. So, I give it all up to him. It is his. I am going on faith and trusting this will all work out.

Devastated!

Today was our Court date in Ethiopia. We did not pass Court. We are heartbroken. Our agency is bewildered. At the moment there are no answers. Only monumental questions. Normally, a family would be assigned a new Court date and the issue would be resolved before the Court appearance. With us it is different. Seems our little man came from an orphanage that recently had sanctions placed upon them. For what I don't know. But since their license is currently not approved, then all the paperwork for our little man will no longer be accepted by the Court. Nobody knows what to do. This has apparently never happened before. What does this mean for us? What does this mean for our little man? Our hearts are breaking. We are devastated.

Update!!

Still finding it hard to post. Too much swirling around my already crowded head. Very busy at work, home, life. But there is a little sunshine to tide me over. Him. Our little man.

Last week we got the good news that Ethiopia would not be requiring the two trips for the time being. Huge for us since going there once will nearly break the bank. The day after we received that bit of good news we got an even better bit....our Court date!! Not to give too much away, as I am still extremely leery about posting too much and getting my butt in trouble, but it is next week. Next week we will hopefully pass Court. Next week he will, for all intents and purposes, be ours! So, if you are reading this keep sending positive thoughts our way and if you pray, send one up to the Big Guy for us. If we pass, and I think we will, then we wait for our Embassy appointment date. When we get that we go. Could be sooner, but really hoping for June.

The Empress and I, with a bit of help from T, put the nursery together this past weekend. It turned out cute, but feels really incomplete. With the Empress we had tons of clothes and toys and lots and lots of girly girl things for her before she arrived. With him, not much. We decided on an elephant theme and I have a few real cute elephant goodies. I took apart some of my childhood "Babar" books, (*cringe") framed some of the pages and called it good. Babar was one of my favorites as a child and I had all the books.....they are all over 40 years old. Sad I took them apart, but plan on replacing them soon for our little guy.

We got an update on "him" on Friday. He is growing and is currently tipping the scales at 20 lbs. He is also an amazing 27 in. Perhaps that doesn't sound big to anyone else, but we only have experience with one little peanut from China. He is crawling, too. I am sending an iron supplement and multi-vitamin over with a traveling family this week. Hopefully our boy will have kicked his iron deficiency anemia by the time we bring him home. The gal who is taking the meds to him has also promised lots of pictures. Hooray. I only have a week to wait to see more of those big brown eyes.

Gotta close. Things are moving along and we couldn't be more happy!

Wordless Wednesday

My Growing Absence

So here is what happened. I truly intended to pick up the pace. I intended to post several February goodies, as February has always been insanely packed with activity. But, we got our referral. Seems like that would be a reason to write...and it definately is. We are excited beyond words. Our house is a flurry of baby related activity. But, here's the rub....I am unable to say too much about our little bundle of boy joy. It could actually jeopardize our adoption. I will say, and I am confident I can say, that we are now waiting for our Court date. This could take a couple months. After we pass Court, which is possible on the first try, but ultimately not always probable, he will be ours and I can spill all the beans about his adorableness! For now, we wait and continue with paperwork. Next week we travel to Helena to have our fingerprints done. Hopefully after that our government paperwork will be completed and we can put that behind us. If we pass Court on the first try, and I feel we will, then it is approximately two more months before we can travel to get our little guy. It will be a quick trip in comparison to China, but one we are both totally looking forward too. The Empress and Tootie and the Pug Man (our sweet lovable dogs) will have a bit of an adventure as well as BB and Papa J will be taking care of them in our absence. T's sister JG will be traveling with us and we are both relieved and excited as she is a nurse and it is always a bonus to have a nurse on a journey to a third world country. Last adoption we took my sis S....who consequently is also a nurse.

So, for now, that is all the information I am able to share. Just know we are soooooo blessed in the referral we have received. He will fit our family perfectly. Happily, my dreams now have a sweet face!

Long Overdue Recap.....and, the NEW ADDITION

Shoot. Somehow I have become a major blogging slacker. Now I have the unpleasant duty to recap a very eventful couple of weeks. Here we go...

On February 13th we had a Chinese New Year dinner party. Somewhat poorly planned. I literally prepped for 4 hours and cooked for 1 hour. Though it was all very tasty, I think the sheer magnitude dulled the flavor. I wasn't impressed, but our guests seemed like they were. After dinner we celebrated the New Year with fireworks...and they were awesome. The Empress looked adorable in her blue silk dress and she thoroughly enjoyed her "lucky money" and stuffed Tiger.

Happy Valentine's Day and our little pug man's 2nd birthday. I gorged myself with my favorite chocolates...Fran's Gray Salt Caramels. Oh my!

Monday was President's Day....woopee. Court Holiday. Day off.

The Empress' 5th birthday was the 18th. She has been sooooo excited for weeks. T left on Tuesday for NASA. (Yes, I said NASA!) So, he missed the big day. And, her early birthday present on the 17th. Which leads us to the NEW ADDITION....

On Wednesday, the 17th, while sitting at my desk at work, I received THE CALL. Yes, THE CALL. We received the referral of our baby boy. Hooray, and he is simply adorable. Can't say too much more until we are officially his parents, but we are so excited and extremely happy. The Empress was elated to "get" a baby brother for her 5th birthday. I am disappointed that T was not here as we were unable to gaze upon his little face together, but we managed to connect by phone and we both agree that he is perfect and our little family is finally complete. Happiness.