We're in Ethiopia!!!

Hello. This is Erin posting for Anna and Nathanael.

We arrived in Ethiopia and met Amilia yesterday. She is very beautiful, healthy, and thriving. We had her with us for about 3 hours. She is also extremely active and crawling already! We were happy that she didn't cry when we held her and that we were able to get her giggling. When we don't have her she is well taken care of by loving nannies at the care center.

Today we took an eight hour trip south to meet Amilia's birthfamily. We spoke with them for 1/2 an hour and took a couple of pictures. We are so thankful that we had this experience and will be able to share it with Amilia when she is older. The people of Ethiopia have been kind to us. We are amazed at how gracious everyone has been even though so many live in extreme poverty.

Back to Erin: At this point, Anna's phone minutes ran out. She was calling from a roof top. We cannot wait for them to come home and to finally meet precious Amilia. We know that you are all excited as well.

The boys are enjoying their time at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They are keeping us all very busy! My parents took them to the cabin this weekend. They will be going to Grandpa and Grandma Bailey's house on Tuesday.

The Storm... before the calm

Believe it or not, I am throughly looking forward to the day long journey to Amilia. Sittting on the plane sipping pop, reading books, and snoozing sounds wonderful to me. The last week has been a whirl-wind. Our packing list has gone from 4 pages to 1/2 page. The donations for the school in Ethiopia were bought and packed. OUr boys are ready to go!! (not with us of course, but to grandma and grandpas house) The paperwork is completed. Our house is somewhat clean. The last minute errnads have been made. The wash is caught up. Sheets are fresh. Our fridge is empty. (hum- that reminds me- what's for dinner- ????- how abount pancakes)
The picture posted here was just taken on monday. We are bringing it framed to the birth mother. It is crazy that everyone is smiling and looking at the camera- This has never happened before.
I am really starting to ache for Amilia- it is so close and I just want to hold her.
Thanks so much for your support and prayers! We love you all!

SO SOON....... IN MY ARMS

We just received our birth certificate for Amilia. This is the photo on it. She has hair now, and the most beautiful eyes! In two short days we will begin our journey to her. We also got an updated weight and height. 13.2 pounds and 25 inches. She is rolling over, and scooting!! I have got to get Isaac from school, but I will post more later today!

Travel Details

Hey everyone!!! The last two days have been a blur. We have so much to get done. We booked our flight today, but not without a little scare. We were put on a wiat list for our flight home- and didn't get a confirmed flight until today! We fly out of MSP on Thursday night at 6:50 and arrive in D.C. around ten. We will stay over night there, and then take a direct flight on Ethiopia Airlines Friday morning at 9:45. We will arrrive in Addis Ababa 8;15 am their time. We stop in Rome for fuel, but we don't get off the plane. Bummer!! I think they are 8 hours ahead of us. We we arrive at the airport, we will apply for our Visa's- and someone from the orphange will be their to pick us up. We will meet Amilia sometime on Saturday. On Sunday we get to travel to her birthland and possibly meet her birth mother and some other relatives. WOW!!!! Aside from meeting Amilia, this is what I am most excited for. I am not quite sure what we will be doing the rest of the week. One day we have to go to the Embassy and present some paperwork for Amilia's Visa. I think we will also go shopping sometime during the week. Amilia will be in our care from the beginning of the week on. They really bundle the babies there - even though it is very warm. Here are some pictures I found on-line-
Thanks everyone who has leaft comments- I love to know who is reading these posts!!

10 days until.....

We can hardly believe it, but it is a mere 10 days until we are on are way to Ethiopia to pick up Amilia. Today Nathanael received a phone call from agency around noon. Our adoption went through the courts with no delays. We were not expecting a phone call for awhile still. At the very earliest we were hoping for was the second week of May. I was gone all morning long, and didn't even have the cell phone on to receive a call. We were totally shocked.
So the next 10 days will be a whirlwind. We have to finish the last set of paperwork to obtain her Visa. Along with packing and getting the house organized. We will be heading down to the cities next Thursday morning. The children aren't traveling with us. Both sets of grandparents are taking care of them. We fly out of MSP at 6:45 on Thursday, April 26th, and arrive in D.C. where we will stay the night. Friday morning we are flying Ethiopian Airlines to Addis Abba, the capital city. We stop in Rome for fuel, but don't get off the plane. BUMMER!!!
We haven't gotten any new information about her, we still are looking at the same pictures. We are thinking she will be around 12 pounds (pretty tiny for 8 months.) In her referral picture (the one posted here) she doesn't have any hair. We think they shaved her head when she came to the orphanage for sanitary reasons. I hope we will recognize her when we see her!!!
I will post more later about the detail of our trip.