What A Handsome Guy

What A Handsome Guy

Halloween as Spiderman

Halloween as Spiderman
with my big sister, Spidergirl

Turning 2 in St. Maarten

Turning 2 in St. Maarten
Happy Birthday

Addison on the 1's and 2's - Following in Daddy's Footsteps

Addison on the 1's and 2's - Following in Daddy's Footsteps

Addison's First Sledding Adventure - in his bathtub!

Addison's First Sledding Adventure - in his bathtub!

Where's My Hair, Mom?

Where's My Hair, Mom?

Me and My New Bald Head

Me and My New Bald Head

Two Gorgeous Kiddies

Two Gorgeous Kiddies

Me and My Friend Alex

Me and My Friend Alex

Our First Christmas as a Foursome

Our First Christmas as a Foursome

My New Fav Pic of Mommy and Ella

My New Fav Pic of Mommy and Ella

Addison Is Officially Addison Now

Addison Is Officially Addison Now
We finalized his readoption on Mon, Dec 14, 2009

My First Halloween

My First Halloween

Enjoy a little video of our new little guy

Friday, April 3, 2009

Things are Moving Along Nicely

The time is approaching. It's so hard to believe. It is really going to happen! Our court date is still set for May the 8th. We haven't heard of any changes or issues, so we're all set to be the legal parents of Addison on May 8th, 2009. Yep, his name will be Addison. We are still deciding on the middle name, but we are leaning toward Everett.

Addison is because he is our son from Addis (Addis Ababa is the full name of the city, but people often call it Addis). That's where we will pick him up, where he was found (although that seems callous to say), and probably where he was born. The name also means "son of Adam", and we like that because it ties back to the original man, which according to all known scientific evidence, actually came from Ethiopia. The fossil remains of "Lucy", the oldest skeleton remains of a human being (yes, she's almost 4 million years old), are located in Addis Ababa in the national museum. We feel like it's a name he can be proud of and that will always link him back to where he came from - ethnically and regionally. We already have a big letter A on his nursery door.

Yep, the nursery is now done. That was the project for last week that had Radames and I on the verge of a divorce. Terrance painted most of the walls for us and hung up the drapes, thank goodness. Radames and I could not have been any more at each other's throats re: paint spills, why the crib still wasn't put together, etc. Note to self...do not try to work on nursery with husband if you are anal and your husband is not...you will inevitably end up wondering why you married each other.

The room is so adorable now, though. The walls are tan and everything in there is baby blue and chocolate brown. We got everything at Restoration Hardware's Baby and Child...it's the Cloud collection at rhbabyandchild.com. So adorable! All that's missing is a baby!

We also got 4 updated pictures of Addison last week. They are SO amazing. He looks like a whole different kid. So much older. There's one of him in a little bouncy contraption grinning from ear to ear and you can just totally see his personality. I wish so badly we could share the pics. That's the crappy part about this process.

So now we're in the midst of starting to plan travel. We are being told that our embassy visa appointment date that we have to attend (and then fly home the next day or two) will probably be May 28th. Yikes! That means we'll probably leave on the 23rd or so, and be there from Mon to Mon. But Ella turns 5 on the 21st of May, and of course I want her to have a big party, Radames turns 39 on the 25th, Ella's preschool graduation is on the 26th, and work will be crazy busy in May, so the timing is not ideal. But if I went into labor at that time, I guess we'd re-arrange everything anyway, so I won't complain. If the 28th doesn't happen, then it'll be June the 11th...and we'll go on like 6th or 7th of June or something. The crazy part is that we can't book our plane ticket until like 5-10 before we leave (bc that's when they do the final confirmation on the visa appointment), so that has me beside myself with uneasiness. I don't like the idea of not knowing exactly when we leave. And being the travel elitist that I am, my worst fear is that we are stuck in the back of coach near the toilet with a new baby who thinks we've kidnapped him. Dear Lord, let first class please still be available when we can book our flight.

On the hotel front, we are able to use Starwood points to stay at the Sheraton, so that's great. And if we change the dates, there's no penalty or drama. And I think we have enough to stay the whole time, but if anyone who'd like to make a "charitable" donation of SPG points to the Tyree-Rodriguez Sheraton fund, we'd love you for it. It's possible to transfer them over, but we'll have to tell you how.

We're getting more vaccinations this week, too. So that makes me feel like we're making progress. And we just finished up our taxes this week, which is a big relief b/c we have to take copies of our tax returns and all forms, supporting evidence of our income, etc. with us! So ridiculous! But since we don't get to make the rules, I'm just happy that those are done.

We also need to either start to buy things or register for things. We still don't own a carseat, stroller, bottle, diaper, pacifier (ugh! we never used a pacifier with ella, so that's freaking me out), formula (don't even get me started on that one. that is totally scaring me too, b/c ella only ever drank from the...well, you know), clothes, and whatever else kids need. We can't even remember, we are so disconnected from infancy now. Good thing is that he'll be about 7 1/2 months old when we get him, so he'll probably already be eating some foods. But if anyone knows of a website where we can have a registry that pulls for a bunch of other sites that would be so cool and convenient. I'd love to register for everything from a bottle to a cutesy Obama t-shirt. I saw a funny one on cafepress.com. And there's an adorable one that says "Does this shirt make me look Ethiopian?" on it that i'm dying to get. :)

I think that's all of the updates for now. We'll keep you posted. :) Addis Ababa, here we come. Only about 50 days left until we leave. Woo Hoo! Can't wait to hop on the Brangelina express flight. :)
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain.
Lilypie Waiting to adopt Ticker
Lilypie Waiting to adopt Ticker