Ethiopian Adoption Group and More

A hug goodbye with Chevella

A swinging big sister






Playing Basketball with Addison

Addison

Lennah's new friend Chevella

Well, Saturday Keith, Lennah, and I headed to a local Ethiopian adoption group that meets once a month. I have to say we had a great time. It was nice meeting other families who are like ours. It was also great to see Lennah play with the other kids and to know what a great big sister she will be to Delylah. I did struggle with where I should make this post; do I put it on Lennah's journey or do I put it on here. I decided to here because I do attend first fridays for since I have been home with Lennah which is mainly a China adoption group. I guess I feel like that is Lennah's group because she is of Asian descent and so are her new found friends from there. So I decided that we would not have visited this group without our impending adoption of Delylah so it rightfully belongs here. We met some great people that we will hopefully get to know better on our journey to bring home Delylah. I am so happy that we have been able to find support groups for our children to become a part of.

Cute stuff

On a second note I did a little shopping today. Before Lennah's adoption we did not purchase clothing because we were unsure of the gender even though CHI had told us to most likely expect a boy. We were glad we didn't make any purchases. Anyway, since we have requested another daughter I have been set on using Lennah's clothing for Delylah (providing they are around the same size on the same season) but today I could not help myself but to make two purchases and Delylah will need some of her own stuff to not feel like great I get left overs. Anway, I got her a little shirt that says I am the little sister and a photo frame for her room that says me and my sister. I am so happy that the girls will be so close in age and hopefully they will love each other more than any other two sisters ever could.

Getting Somewhere

Well, I will be posting more since we have begun the chase. Anyway, I have already tackled getting my employment letter for our dossier, Keith is chasing his higher ups to get his going. We ordered both birth certificates this week, have our friends and relatives getting our recommendation letters going. Our medicial appointments are for next week and that really is the main time consuming stuff that we need to chase for our dossier. THis is a breeze next to putting together a dossier for Vietnam. We also worked on the girls playroom last weekend and finished that this week. We have also finished Delylah's room at least meaning it is painted and the furniture is in. We have the bedding as well but we still need a few little pieces to complete her ensemble. I have also started moving some of Lennah's clothes that no longer fit into Delylah's room. Hopefully, they will be close to the same size around the same season because so much of Lennah's stuff is in good condition. I will update again soon for now here are some photos of Delylah's room. A pic of the girls playroom is one Lennah's blog already so there really is no point in reposting.

Starting the Paper Chase

Well, I know that we have been moving slow for this new adoption but we are trying to space the girls out a bit so this way we really aren't pulling the hair out of our heads. Anyway, over the weekend we finally submitted our contract to our agency and our dossier prep fee. They received our packet today and now we are onto the paper chase. I ordered a birth certificate for me today and Keith is sending off for his tomorrow. Next week I am off of work so we are meeting with our homestudy to get that almost complete and I will be running around compiling our dossier. This time around everything looks like a breeze compared to Vietnam. Most likely we will have everything finished by mid-late March and have our paper work off to Ethiopia. It all seems real now.
Since our last post we have gotten all of Delylah's furniture for her room. We still need a few items to complete her room but all the furniture is in and it looks beautiful. We also painted so it is coming together nicely. This weekend we also worked on a playroom for the girls. Since Christmas Lennah's toys have taken over the house so we created a playroom/ guest bedroom. It was a guest bedroom that was one day going to be a gameroom but we figured it could be multi-functional for now. Once it is put together completely I will have to post a pic. We also figure that once the girls are a bit older and have sleep overs we can contain the mess in there because the girls could sleep and play in there and let the old folks sleep.
Well, now that the paper chase is on I will be probably posting more frequently.