Happy Birthday Shawn!!!

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me...I'm 25 years old (ahem), 25 years old...may God bless me...Happy Birthday to me!!! Now I guess the 25 is stretching it, but hey, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

I was surprised with cake from my son and husband this morning, so as you can imagine, my tummy is a rumblin. I shouldn't have had such concentrated sugar this early in the morning. But hey, it's my birthday, and I can do what I want! 

Now, I'm headed out to the spa at the Mandarin Oriental hotel. I can't wait! I convinced my hubby to get me a very nice designer bag, not sure which one yet, but purses are my fetish. For the most part, I'm just going to enjoy the day, and be thankful that God has blessed me with yet another year! Oh, happy day!!

Ethiopian Dinner

This weekend, we had fun at an outing sponsored by families in the Mid-Atlantic Ethiopian Adoption yahoo group. There were abut 50 people there. We were all either in process, paperchasing, or home with kids. Some drove from as far as New Jersey to participate. We met for good food at Dukem Restaurant in Baltimore. It was a nice experience to meet other families, and enjoy Ethiopian food. I met the cutest little 1 year old named Elijah; he's been home since September. I wish I'd remembered to take pictures (Oh well). There were also 2 older girls present, 13 and 10 or 11, I believe. It's fascinating how well they have learned English.  Kids definitely pick things up quickly. They didn't remember much Amharic, but I'm sure it's hard to maintain the language when you don't speak it everyday. I really hope we can learn Amharic, and help our baby to learn Amharic when we bring her home.

The meal looked just like the one above, but the Injera (spongy bread) tasted alot different than the one I remember eating during the time that I lived in Ethiopia. The Injera in Ethiopia taste sour, and has a flat appearance and moist texture. The Injera here in the states is not as tart, and rather fluffy, like a different type of flour was used instead of the teff flour. It didn't have that distinct taste I remember, but I guess American taste buds would probably prefer the version we had yesterday. BTW, my 8 year old son loved it. I didn't think he would because he is a picky eater, but he did. 

Next Sunday, our agency will be sponsoring a lunch get-together for local families at an Ethiopian restaurant nearby. That should be exciting because the in-country representative will be there, and it should be nice meet other Gladney Ethiopia families. The local Gladney group, had a get together last Summer, which was very nice, but not specific to Ethiopian adoption. I'll be sure to post pictures if I remember to take any. 

The next outing I hope to attend, would be the Ethiopian cultural camp in Virginia this summer. It seems like it will be great event to take my son to as we anticipate the arrival of his sister. He was already excited, but yesterday made him even more anxious to travel. I'l post the link to the camp if anyone else is interested.

Catching Up Part 2

This is part two of my pictorial on life since being placed on the waitlist. It's a little counterintuitive, but I guess I'm just backwards tonight. Part 1 is below this post (go figure)

My mom (all black) and her friend visited the area 2 weeks ago. They were in town for our sorority's annual congressional visit to capitol hill. It was great hanging out with them. They were in town from the west coast, and this night we ate $85 meals. (Yikes, we didn't quite expect that, but it sure was good).
Mr. B played Basketball, and he was the star of the team. He's so tall he played center, andhe  scored 51 points this season. The season just ended on Sunday.

We attended the Inauguration of President Obama! Cold, but wonderful!

But nothing compared to meeting President Obama in person when he surprisingly showed up to a Washington Wizards game, and sat in our section!! I couldn't believe it. I knew our season tickets would pay off some day. Heck we deserved it after the horrible season the Wizards have had. (I'm a Laker fan, but my son loves his home team).
So cool. And so close.
He shook hands on the way out.
B and I were all smiles!

Catching Up

Here is a small pictorial of our activities since making waitlist; but first I will start with a few pictures from our Happy Holidays in Louisiana!Audubon Insectarium is a new activity in New Orleans. It's a great place, especially if you like learning about creepy, crawling things. The kids loved it! These are some shots from the butterfly garden at the end of the tour. If you look closely, you will see a butterfly in there somewhere. I love butterfly gardens. They are great places to think.



No trip to New Orleans is complete without a visit to Cafe Du Monde for some beignets. As you can see we ate them all! There went all my WW points!
The "Audubon Zoo" in New Orleans. If you have never been, you should go. I must say, it is one of the best zoos in the country! This is a rare leopard (I can't remember the name), but there are only about 30 left in the world.  Audubon is attempting to stop this trend; they were successful in breeding 1 baby last fall.

I love white tigers! Audubon does a really great job keeping their animals healthy, and happy. You never get the feeling that their animals are mistreated. 
B and I at the zoo in front of the elephants. B's favorites since he was 2 months old.
My cousin Tsega, and little N (he's 2). He was all over me this Christmas, and I loved it. Lots of hugs and kisses. This is probably one of the few times he wasn't right next to me. He is such a sweet boy.
Your eyes are not deceiving you. There are 5 boys in this picture. As you can imagine, my family can't wait for a little estrogen to balance things out a bit.
Baby M, my nephew, wondering why his mom put that monkey on his back! He was only 14 months in December, and I must admit, that little monkey kept him from running away the entire time we were out. 

B and his cousins C and M at "City Park" in New Orleans. These photos were taken in Storyland. 

2 months down!!

Well it's been over a month, and I have posted absolutely NOTHING on my blog. (Shawn you are a BAD girl). It hasn't been intentional, but I guess life sometimes gets in the way. I've been so busy doing other things that I haven't had too much time to post anything that would be interesting to read. The one advantage is that it has definitely taken my mind off the wait! We are now 2 months down as of 3/12!  Hoot Hoot!!

I have been keeping up with fellow bloggers, especially those from my agency, who have been waiting about 8 months or so for a referral. (Times quoted to them were between 4-6 months; clearly this means absolutely nothing in international adoption. All it does is gives you a rough estimate, but don't bet your last dollar on receiving a referral by the end of the time frame.) I feel anxious for them, but I know their referrals are on the way! 

This adoption waiting game is kinda like watching paint dry. The more you pay attention to the wait, the longer it seems to become. So I'm trying so desperately not to fall into that trap, but it's so hard. I want to start preparing the baby's room, and buying everything in sight, but I'm really not one to count my eggs before they hatch. I'm trying to remain realistic, and to understand that I may not (or should I say will not) get a referral in the 4-6 month window quoted. I really don't expect a referral until 9-11 months out given the extension on the current wait times. Who knows, it may even extend out 12 months. (That would equal referral anywhere between Oct and Jan, and travel sometimes next year.)  Only God knows at this point, but at least I won't get my hopes up too high, and end up disappointed in the long run.

As for those at the end of the road waiting for their referrals, I'll be praying for you. I have a gut feeling they will be coming very soon!! I'll also be thinking and praying for those of you waiting for court dates, waiting for court judgements, and those preparing to travel. 

I promise to keep this thing updated more frequently, I just don't want to bore you all with my relatively uneventful life. (I need to change this Valentine theme!! But not tonight, I'm headed to bed!) Until the next time...