Off to See the Social Worker

So, tomorrow we are headed to Knoxville to meet up with our social worker. It's hard to believe, but it's time for her to write up our 3 month "progress report" that we have to send back to Ethiopia. We have to do one at 3 mo, 6 mo, 9 mo, and then every year until he's 18! And I just can't believe he's already been with us over 2 months and it's time to write up our first one. Where did the time go!?

In many ways it feels like Addison just got here, b/c he's still just such a peanut. But in other ways, I can't ever remember our life without him. He's definitely our son, and, honestly, I rarely even remember or think about the fact that we adopted him. It just feels like he's always been with us. I can barely even remember going to Ethiopia. It feels like such a foggy dream, and I have to remind myself that it really did happen.

We also finally made an appointment with an attorney for the week after next. He'll be helping us do our TN re-adoption. Addison is legally ours, but his adoption isn't official in our home state (e.g. no US birth certificate, SS card, etc. can be issued) until we re-adopt him in TN. I ventured out the county courthouse last week to pick up petition filing paperwork, and needless to say, that was a futile exercise. I can understand why people would go postal. I was ready to "go legal" after 15 minutes of dealing with Betty and her idiotic co-workers who had no clue in hell what I was talking about and how to be of any help. Even after being re-directed to the "new courthouse where all the fancy offices are", I still ran into nothing but roadblocks as the nasty bi-otches at every counter were like, "honey, I have no idear whatch you'ra talkin' 'bout." I lef there thinking, "Why!? Why!? Why, Wynne, did you even come here!? Why would you waste 1 minute of your work day trying to deal with this?" We're excited for our lawyer's meeting is all I'll say. He was referred to us by our pediatrician who has an internationally adopted daughter, and from what I understand he's even done Ethiopian readoptions. Fingers and toes crossed.

Every thing is going well with the fam. Addison had his (belated) 1 yr check-up this week, so we had to hold him down while they drew even more blood from him poor little arm. Ugh. I hate that more than anything. I just want to burst into tears. They also gave him four shots in his chubby little thighs. :( And I'm not a big vaccine fan, but I just sucked it up knowing it was best for him. :( I hope we don't have to go for a long time. It's just so unbearable every time we're there, b/c he's getting 3 different types of HIV tests, 4 types of Hep A, B, and C tests, checking his titers to see what vaccines "took" and which didn't (so we don't over-immunize him), etc. I hate it, because he hates it.

Ella is doing a lot better with him now. She is acting a little less jealous and getting in the groove of him just being her little brother. She was driving us crazy for a while, but things are calming down now. Radames has this place on 100% lock-down. He's running the house like a military camp. 6am up, 6:30 feeding, 9:00am nap, 11:30 up, noon feeding, 3:30 nap, 6pm feeding, 7:30 bath, 7:45 bottle, 8:00 in crib asleep. He does NOT like his schedule being deviated from in any way. And he pretty much won't let anyone do anything for him. He is in "I've-got-this" mode, and I'm clearly the window dressing. I'm pretty much taking care of Ella as much as I can, so he's not too overwhelmed, but every time I try to take care of both of them he freaks out and tells me he's got it.

I actually had to tell him the other day that he needed to lighten up (imagine me telling Radames to lighten up!), because he's being super hard on himself and uber martyr-like about the chid rearing. I've been working a ton these past few weeks since I've been back at work, and his feeling is "you take care of the business; I'll take care of the family b/c that's my job." How could I ever begin to have to have a problem with that, b/c what woman in the world is so lucky, but...jeez, he's gotta give himself some respite. He needs to call a friend, go to a game, go play some music in the DJ room, something...he's turning into a crazy stay-at-home mom who complains that the bottles aren't in order and that Ella is in bed 5 minutes late. And he's actually quite miserable, b/c he isn't getting his fuel. Work is my fuel, b/c I love what I do and I get to do it with friends all day, but music, movies, friends and sports and solitude are his fuel, and he hasn't been getting any of it. And since we live in a place where none of his close friends live, and it's not a walking city, he's cooped up like a crazy housewife from the 'burbs that's going crazy and complaining about how she can't remember things and how she feels alone.

We're working on it. I've been forcing him to leave us alone and let me do my other job (or being a mom!), just so that he'll go in the basement and watch a game or something. We'll get it worked out. He has to just let go after 5pm; and I've gotta push him outta the mix more often.

Oh, totally random, but if I owe any of you a thank-you card for goodies you've mailed us, I'M SO SORRY. I promise it's on it's way. I've just been swamped at work, and traveling, and then spending every spare minute I can with the kids (did i just say "kids"?!), so I've been writing like 1 per week. We've gotten everything, and are SO thankful. Sorry we've been so rude about that. Well, that I've been so rude about that. Radames isn't really the card-writing type. And he totally get a pass on this one. :)

Halloween Superheroes

So Ella was Batgirl today and Addison was her adorable little sidekick, Robin. We did a little community trick-or-treating, and it was so fun to get them all dressed up for the first time. We'll upload some pix asap. I'm sure we'll take 1,000 more pix tomorrow on Halloween. :)

Yes, we're alive

It's been forever since we've posted, but it's been a function of 1. Holy shit! This two kids thing is NO joke! 2. Ella was on fall break for two weeks, so we went to NYC on "vacation" and 3. I've started back to work and haven't had time to update the blog.

We took Addison swimming for the first time while we were DRIVING up to New York. It was so adorable. I'll try to upload a picture soon. He was so excited...well until I accidentally put his head under water while I was spinning him around in circles and he coughed so badly that he threw up in the pool! Needless to say, we did a casual exit from the pool at that point. :)

Everything is going great, though. Addison turned 1 on the 12th. :) So hard to believe. And Ella is doing a way better job with him and with the fact that he's here to stay. It's just been such a major adjustment for her and we've had to give her lots of TLC.

Radames is being a single dad of two now while I'm at a conference in Vegas this week, so I can only imagine how he's holding up. He's just so amazing, and I'm so fortunate that he's my husband. He holds us all together and never bats a lash. I have no clue how I would be doing this without him these days.

We've Made It Through Another Week

Wow. This new life is demanding. Hats off to people with more than one child! One seems SO easy now. And life pre-kids seems like such a foggy memory. Are we really the parents of two kids? How did all of this grown-up stuff happen? Aren't we still 25?

Ella is settling into a groove and gettig less jealous this week, so that is good, but Addison has had a fever for the last 2-3 days, so our house has been a wreck! He isn't sleeping through the night anymore, so that is messing up Radames and me big time. Yesterday was not a good day at the Tyree-Rodriguez hosehold, to say the least. Ella went on a very long playdate after school, just so that we could catch our breath and not make her have to have a miserable day, too. (Thank you, Polly, for taking care of Ella on Thurs! You have no idea!) Radames ad I took naps in shifts after being up all night, and I pretty much barked at everyone who came within my path. Poor Addison cried almost all day long and couldn't sleep, so Radames took him to the doctor while I took my fat ass to bed...for the good of all mankind. Today we found out he has a urinary tract infection. :( We feel SO bad for him. He got some Septra this afternoon, so hopefully he'll be able to get some more sleep tonight. I don't know if poor Radames could make it if he doesn't, since he volunteered to do last night b/c I did the night before.

Tonight we all got dressed and went to dinner with friends. It was a big deal for us, since we are homebound these days like we are on house arrest. We decided to call friends and ask them to join us, since it was one of the first times we'd all been showered and out on the same day. :) We had a great time. Lots of food and funny stories while the kids entertained one another. It was just so nice to veg out for a little while, let Radames drink and beer and let me gossip with a grown up. We stuffed ourselves silly, then piled in the car to come home and raved about how we had so much fun as we drove home. Then we looked down at the clock and realized it was 7:58!! And our night was over! Gosh, how times have changed! Did we really just have a rockin' night that ended before the time we would even left the house in old days!?

We ARE alive

Sorry it's been so long since we've posted. We are alive. :) But we are in over our heads over here. This two kids things is a whole hell of a lot of work, so we've just been hibernating, doing what's necessary, bonding, satisfying (what feels like 20) kids who want attention and just enjoying the time off of work.

Addison is doing great. He sleeps 11 hours a night, then takes two naps a day... and is completely on Eastern time. He eats like a champion and is just such a smiley, happy-go-lucky kid. He's TOTALLY hooked on Radames, which is just so amazing to see. He grabs Radames' neck when anyone comes around, and he even looks to Radames for approval when he comes to me. It's just so beautiful to see these two adorable guys so connected so soon. Radames walks around with him on his hip all day long like a girl from around the way (insert LL Cool J lyrical flashback). And then at night time, Addison wants nothing to do with me. He just wants Radames to put him down. The other night when I sat and rocked him in the dark like I used to do for Ella, it was so hard to watch him wiggle and worm around twisting his neck to the door, just waiting for Radames to come in...so completely disinterested in me and so in need of his daddy to shhh shhh shhh him to sleep. It's taken me a few days to realize that in this process I can't have an ego. If that's what Addison wants and needs; then that's what Addison is going to get. It would be pretty unfair to make him the slightest bit uncomfortable after everything he's been through so that we could go half-sies on the childrearing so that I don't feel left out. And knowing that I'll be going back to work soon anyway, it probably is best that he's latched onto Radames if he needed to pick one of us to bond with more quickly.

The opposite is going on with Ella. She is in full-on give me my mommy every minute of the day! Overall, she's doing a great job of being sweet and helpful and playful, but she is clearly adjusting and trying to deal with the fact that daddy and (mostly) mommy are giving their attention to someone else, too. She now wants me to wake her up, put her to bed, snuggle with her in bed, read her more stories, take her to karate, come to her snacktime at school, pack her lunch, etc. But, again, if that's what she needs right now, then so be it. It's meant that we are settling (at least for the next week or so) into a Radames-is-primarily-in-charge-of-Addison- while-Wynne-is-primarily-in-charge-of-Ella groove. According to our new family spreadsheet (insert laughter), we try to flip it each day, but by the end of the day, the two little ones end up defaulting back to whom they are digging most right now.

So, all in all, things are going really well. We're trying to get a system down pat and trying to keep our heads above water. Every minute is a bottle, cereal, making baby food, doing dishes, doing laundry, take a work call, Ella's lunch needing to be packed, going to the store for random things, dropping Ella off, picking her up, reading stories, changing diapers, practicing words of the day, going to karate, more laundry, helping Ella perfect her post-#2 wiping skills, and on and on and on. How single women (or men) do this, I have NO idea. It's taking every hour for both Radames and me to do it.

But we wouldn't change it for the world. This is exactly what we wanted, and we would definitely deserve to burn in hell if we even began to complain about anything in our lives at this point. We are so truly blessed in so many ways. I love Radames and Ella and Addison so much, and I just couldn't ask for a sweeter, more comfortable life.

One week and counting

Addison is doing such a great job. He's been with us in TN for a week now, and it feels like he's always been here. He sleeps and eats like a champ, and we're all starting to get into a groove. Sorry we've been quiet, but no news is good news these days. :) Just enjoying our new family and learning to juggle like never before. We did get our photo montage done, though. Enjoy!

Getting Acclimated

Hey, friends and family. Sorry we've been so remiss in posting, but this "new job" is no joke! Boy, do we have a whole new respect for anyone with more than one kid! Our lives have been nothing but wake-ups, bedtimes, feedings, changings, nap times, laundry, bottles, cereal, babyfood, jet lag, and sneaking a shower with regard to Addison and cooking, packing lunches, wake-ups, bedtimes, stories, "homework", karate, participating in the school fund raisers, fending off jealousy urges, and making playdates with regard to Ella. This makes having one child seem like a cake walk! Jeez. This life is no joke!

Yesterday, Radames had a meltdown because I wanted to drive Ella to school and he thought he was driving her and it "threw off his whole morning", to use his words. We ended up having to sit down and create a giant spreadsheet that has every 30 minute interval of the day planned out with who is doing what! We realized that we either need to run this place like a ship or we're gonna sink! There's just so much to do!! How do people do this!?? We're just "learning" basic things like okay-we-must-have-the-diaper-bag-prepacked-at-all-times-because-it's-taking-us-two-hours-to-leave-the-house and the we-must-have-a-bedtime-rotation-schedule-because-we-can't-have-simultaneous-wake-ups-or-put downs. Our whole lives have been flipped upside down. But in an amazingly cute, bit if-I-weren't-married-to-Radames-I'd-have-no-idea-what-I'd-do kind of way. Our body clocks have completed shifted. We accomplish more before 8am than we used to before 8pm! You guys know me...I used to be in bed at 3am and up at 9am. Now i'm in bed by 9pm and awake at 5 or 6am. Ah, what a whole other world. I am one domestic diva these days.

Most importantly, Addison is doing SO well. He's so chipper and easy going. He's completely adjusted to the time difference and is now (like in Ethiopia) down by 8pm and up at 6am. Then he naps from 9-11am and again at around 3:30pm and does it all over again. He really doesn't even cry. He knows the system and just so chill about everything. He's definitely attached to us. When we put him down or give him to someone else, he freaks out, so that's a wonderful thing! He just smiles and babbles and crawls all around the house. He LOVES Brownie and the cats and basically keeps trying to eat them! He's definitely one of the gang. :)

Ella's being a great big sis. She loves with the feeding and diapering and is enjoying with his teacher on any and all matters. She's having a blast at kindergarten and is enjoying telling all of her teachers about her new baby brother from Africa.

More to come. But for now, we're a-okay. :) Thanks for all of your love and support! :)

The Eagles Have Landed

We made it home! All in one piece...well, in three pieces. :) We landed on Saturday morning at 8:30ish. It was the longest 17 hour flight of our lives, but Addison was a true champ. He didn't cry one time on the plane! He's so easy-going and happy. He just giggles, squeaks like a dog's chew toy, smiles, eats, dumps and sleeps. :) Now that's a life.

When we touched down in DC we were totally elated. And then when we passed through immigration and then customs and walked through the exit doors, we just cried and held each other and couldn't have been more grateful. We took a cab to the Sheraton where our car was parked, took a long-overdue shower, fed Addison and made the 6.5 hr drive home. We almost drove off the road 5 times, bc neither one of us could keep our eyes open, but we did make it home alive. It was the longest 30-hr trip ever! (I don't want to see a plane again for a LONG time!)

We're all crazy jetlagged, but Addison made it all the way until 4am this morning, which is great considering that his biological bedtime is our 1pm until 11pm! Ella is thrilled to have him here and we're just having a relaxing first day together as a new family. The family is coming over today for a welcome home get-together that we were too exhausted to host yesterday, so that should be fun.

We'll update with pics and more details. Ella's waiting for me to send Polly Pocket down her waterslide now...

We're On Our Way Home!

We made it! We passed through all of the embassy appointments yesterday and are now the proud holders of an adorable Ethiopian passport with the cutest mug shot ever! :) And we have his birth certificate that shows that WE are the parents of Eyob Radames Rodriguez aka Addison Miles Tyree-Rodriguez. We couldn't be happier!

We're headed out tonight at 10:15pm Ethiopian time (3pm eastern) and will land in DC at 7am tomorrow. Woo Hoo!

Everything is great!

It's Thursday morning the 3rd, and today is our big appointment day at the embassy. At around 2:30, we'll go there with Addison and all of our paperwork and give an oath that yes, we are Radames and Wynne and that this is little Eyob Radames Rodriguez, and that we promise to take care of him forever. They'll examine all of our crazy paperwork (tax returns, immigration stuff from the US, adoption decree, etc.) and then, hopefully, say, "Congratulations." In some ways it's just a formality, because he's already legally ours, but this is the part where they finalize his passport, travel visa, birth certificates, etc. that allow us to leave the country. If all goes perfectly, they have all the final docs ready for us to pick-up at 4:00pm tomorrow...and our flight back home is at 10:00pm tomorrow night Needless to say, our stomachs are in knots. Bright side is that there is nothing they can do to take him away or stop the process. But they can delay us and make us have to stay here longer and redo things or jump through more hoops. Wish us luck today as we head to the embassy today and ideally spend 5 uneventful minutes giving them what they need so that we are just one day away from heading home!

Our time so far here has been pretty relaxing. After we caught up on sleep, we've felt pretty good. Unfortunately, our sleep pattern is now lights out at 10pm and up and at em at 6am. Which would be nice if we weren't 7 hours ahead! Our bedtimes in the US are now going to be 3pm! And Addison's is at 8pm, which will now be 1pm! Oh, good times. :) But we haven't gotten sick, the altitude isn't bothering us, no stomach "bugs", no dehydration, etc. And, most importantly, Addison is healthy as a horse and eating like a champion.

He's SO cute! He would eat anything you put in front of him, and then he just smiles and coos and shows his 7 teeth from ear to ear. Yes, he has 7 teeth! He's so funny, because he kind of looks like an old man, with a mustache and receding hairline, but then again he looks like a newborn. Radames thinks he kind of looks like Webster. Ha! Developmentally, it's kind of like he's 1 year old and a newborn at the same time. Physically, he's big (about 21 lbs.) and he has lots of hair and teeth, but he doesn't do a lot of the things that a 10.5 month old would do in the US. It's not comparable, of course, because he's been in an orphanage and then in the transition home, and pretty much hanging out in a crib his whole life, but just basic things that you'd expect a kid his size to do, he doesn't do. He doesn't even make an attempt to hold his own bottle, he doesn't really crawl, he doesn't reach his arms up for you to grab him, etc. He just kind of sits there and waits for us to do to him what ever we are going to do. And then he just clings onto our necks with the most amazing death grip. He sort of "climbs" up our chests, almost clawing into us with a very primal baby attaching to mommy way. And he doesn't want to let go. He just wants us to hold him and have his face buried in our chests. It's so sweet, and it's also so sad at the same time, bc it's clearly the first time he's truly attaching. We'll take it though. :) There are WAY worse "issues" to have. He just couldn't be more sweet. We have a lot of developmental stuff to catch up on, but who cares. We are just totally focused on the bonding process at this point, and letting him know that we'll never leave him.

The country itself has been quite fascinating. I'm not sure what we were expecting, but, honestly, the country is so unbelievably poor it's just beyond depressing. We've been to a lot of countries where there is poverty, and to plenty of 3rd world places, but this is like nothing we've ever seen. It's not place where there are "the haves" and the "have nots". Everyone is a "have not", and even the few "haves" live by such a different standard. Honestly, the poverty and dispair is just so striking. Literally, there is nothing. An entire city (and this is "the city", the place where life is way better for most) full of starvation. No industry, very little modernity, no signs of progress, no new construction, no western influence (which doesn't mean "progress" necessarily, but there's no foreign money coming in), no clean water, no food, raw sewage running down the street, unpaved roads that have rocks and pot holes about 3 feet deep, thousands of children (and adults) on the streets begging...and on and on. The diesel fuel from all of the dilapidated cars and busses is nauseating. There are cows and goats and dogs and cats walking around all over town. Roosters crowing, dogs howling, kids begging, plastic tarps attached to four sticks as houses, people lying on the streets as if they are dead...face down, covered in dirt and mud, not moving a muscle. I thought that i had seen a dead person on the first day, and i freaked out as we were driving. And then i saw the next one and the next one and the next one. And i realized, they were just sleeping, i guess. But not in a NYC homeless sort of way, in an i have nothing and i'll collapse right here on this rock sort of way. It's so cliche, and nothing i ever thought i'd say, but it's one giant Save the Children commercial. Where you see the poverty and you think, "there's no way," but it's really true. And you can't turn off the tv, bc you're there.

I wanted so badly to come and see an amazing country full of history and culture and to come back and so full of stories and anecdotes that would debunk our western myths about Africa...or at least Ethiopia. I wanted to be able to tell Addison how amazing his country is/was and how he has so much to be proud of. But we aren't there yet. Maybe once we've had time to process it all and get some distance, we'll have a little more perspective, but for now the tales aren't there. The people are AMAZING. So nice and so gracious and so humble, and everyone has taken amazing care of us. And we have seen a few cool things (yesterday we went to the ethnic museum to understand the history of the country and the people a bit more), but the poverty and hopelessness is just so striking that it's hard to notice the positives. We (well, I) just sit around thinking about how i can overhaul the government and the economy (while Rademes drinks beer and hams it up with the other families). :) What do you do where the gov't controls everything and the leaders live in a giant palace when everyone else starves to death around the gates? What do you do when there's no export...no import...no natural resources...no foreign investment...no commerce...nothing... It's just too much to wrap your head around.

Ugh. Now i'm being debbie downer. The most important thing is that we're happy as can be, Addison is ours, and that we'll be home soon. :) Wish us luck today. We'll keep you posted the next time we can log on.

Ciao! (as the locals say, bc they were under Italian occupation for a while in the '30s and 40s)

We're Here!

We made it! They let Radames through, and he's not in Dubai right now after all. We met Addison yesterday and could not stop crying. He's such an adorable little munchkin. Within five minutes of meeting us, he just smushed his face into my chest and feel fast asleep on his new "cushions" for half an hour. He hasn't missed a beat since. He's eating like a champion, happy as can be, and is adjusting so well. He's on a hard core schedule, so as long as we keep him on that schedule, he's good to go. He slept from 8:30 to 6:30 last night, just like they said he would. (Only "problem" is that that's our 1:30pm to 11:30pm eastern! Yikes! We're going to have some serious time adjusting to do.)

Radames and I haven't slept in a few days, but who cares. We missed the night's sleep coming here, bc we arrived at midnight eastern, but it was 8am here, so yesterday was an incredibly hard day. But we made it and he's ours! And today is our anniversary (8 years!) and we couldn't dream of being in a more "glamorous" place. :)

We'll update when we can, but we're on dial up, so no pix yet.

Woo hoo! We made it. He's ours. He's beautiful, happy and has 7 teeth!!!! (but he's clearly a baby, though. We were scared he was going to be like 3 years old :), but he's definitely a little peanut.)

There WILL Be A Dominican in Ethiopia!

It is 8:35AM and this is Radames writing. Yes, after all of the stuff and obstacles that Wynne wrote about me not going to ET in her previous post, I am next to my wife and sitting in the United lounge having coffee as I write this. We had a restless night of sleep because we did not know what to expect this morning. Was I going to get through? If I did, would I get on the plane? Question after question popped in to our heads as we tried to figure out what we were going to do while driving up to Dulles from TN. Due to Wynne not getting any sleep, she got up in the middle of the night and e-mailed our travel agents who had not reached out to us after us trying to get in contact with them all of Saturday. After Wynne's e-mail, she called at around 4:30AM. Wynne told her the situation and she immediately had me ready to jump on another flight from JFK tomorrow night due to the fact that I was going to be there trying to get my passport renewed in one day. We got up at 6AM and we felt pretty good about what was going to happen. Either we were going together or we were going seperately. We were ready for anything.

Our agency director then called and informed Wynne that she had spoken to our in country rep and he told her that he had never heard of such a thing as a 6 month rule regarding passports and visas. He then placed a call to his friend, who by the way is the head of visa officers in the airport, and he told him that as long as a passport is valid, I would be good to go. Great way to start off our trip.

We arrived at the Ethiopian Air counter at about 7:30AM. We calmly hauled our luggage to the first class lane and up to the checkout agent. Wynne smiled and told her how excited we were going to Africa, that this was our first time going, and we were going to pick up our son. The agent calmly looked at our tickets, passports, and other documents. Our luggage was placed on the scale, weighed, and put on the belt. Our tags were being printed and other things were being put in order as Wynne and myself looked at each other waiting for the other shoe to drop as it has happend with everything else in this process. My stomach was in knots as if I was lying to th cops about some illegal activity and Wynne was sweating as though she was being interrogated by Ethiopian authorities. The agent is finishing everything up and she picks up our passports one last time. She looks at mine, turns to me and says, " Have you had your passport renewed?" My stomach drops. The gig is up. I can only imagine what Wynne is going through as she heard this. I say excuse me to her and then she laughs and says,"Oh, it expires in November. I didn't see the year. You're ok." A wave of calmness goes over me as Wynne shows the agent a picture of Addison and she remarks how cute he is. She gives us our stuff and we walk away feeling as though we are walking on cloud nine. Wynne and I look at each other with huge smiles, go through security with a huge relief and realize that we are about to embark on the journey to finally bring home our son.

The Saga Continues

We are supposed to leave at 10:15 in the morning, and here it is midnight the night before, and we don't know if we are going to be able to get on the plane. We are still two hours away from DC (we fly out of Dulles), we need to be at the airport at 7am, and we have no idea what tomorrow morning's check-in will entail.

To make a long story short, Radames' passport expires in 3 months and he had NO idea this would be an issue. When we were finally packing up our whole live (in one day!) and getting all of our paperwork completed, copied, organized, etc., I saw his passport and thought, "oh, i feel like i've heard before that passports have to be valid for more than 6 months post-travel to get in some countries." Fast forward to him flipping out, us scavenging on-line for hours, calling and emailing everyone and anyone in this process who is supposed to be helping us (although they aren't!)....and we ended the night with Radames hysterically crying, screaming, rocking himself and beyond consoling. It was indeed true. On the ethiopian embassy site it says the passport has to be valid for 6 extra months beyond travel. No one at our agency or travel agency ever told us this!!!

We spent the night flipping out, me watching Radames cry himself to sleep while i pretended to be okay and saying, "it'll be fine, honey, we'll get there...we're gonna make it...it'll all work out." And then once he fell asleep I lost it. I called and got him an extension appointment in Philly for first thing Tues am, b/c that's the earliest one I could find on the eastern seaboard. I checked every possible flight that could still get him to Addis by Thursday's exit appointment, and there were none on our airline and there definitely none that would get him there if doesn't get a renewed passport until Tuesday afternoon. I just laid there and stewed on whether I should go without him, how we could change our flights, when we could get a passport renewal appt, how we could find a notary in the middle of the night that would notarize official paperwork that allows only one parent to pick up the child (which we can't do b/c those docs have to state authenticated after notarizing, and there's no way we could get them notarize, to nashville and then back to DC by Sunday at 7am!), the horrors of being there without him, him being here without me, us being without Ella for even longer, us missing our embassy appointment, etc. I finally crawled into Ella's bed hoping that the peace of her little snore would lull me to sleep. I think it finally did at around 6am.

At 10:30 we woke up and realized it wasn't a bad dream. We immediately started making calls to the ethiopian airlines ticket counter, scrambling for other flight options, calling the owners of the hotel we're at (asking if it was true and what we should do), frantically trying to get ahold of our travel agent to no avail, trying to get ahold of our adoption agency to no avail, etc. Thank the lord for Meredith who called a passport expediting service in NYC that said if RR would be in NYC at 7:30am with passport, license, new itenerary proving he was leaving within 24 hours, $350 in cash and a $135 check for the passport, they'd give him an extended passport by 5pm on Monday!

So...that's the plan as of now. If they don't let him on the plane (and perhaps even if they will, b/c the issue really isn't with the airlines, it's with the entry/visa process in Ethiopia when we get off the plane where they could say "welcome, now get the hell back on the plane b/c you can't stay"), then he's gonna get a different travel agent to find him a flight that'll leave on Mon night or Tues am from NYC, then take a train from DC to NYC (4 suitcases in tow), sleep in Brooklyn, be in NYC for the 7:30 "appointment", get a new passport, fly out of NYC through Dubai, hang out there for half a day, and then join me in Addis on Wednesday in time for our Thursday exit/embassy/finalize it all appointment!

If this all works out, then it could be fine. There are 100 opportunities for this to not go as planned, but we have to cling onto this for now. All we've got right now are our hopes, a pretty solid plan B, and each other.

Honestly, this is the one of the worst things we've had to deal with. We are furious, sad, confused, exhausted, scared, and did i mention exhausted. It's hard to believe that we should be singing camp songs and lullabies out loud while we make fun in-car video, and we're at a rinky dink gas stop righ now on our way to DC (bc we didn't leave home until 7pm, because we spent 6 hours on the phone today!) and we have no idea what the next week will hold. Ella is in great hands with Ganna and Sara Beth, the biz is in great hands, but this might be one of the most trying things we've ever been through.

We've cried together in the car so much on this trip. Radames was crying before we even left our neighborhood. I think we were doing such a good job holding it all together in front of Ella today that the minute we got in the car to drive away, it all just came pouring out. We've vascilated back and forth between, "it'll be fine" to "what did we do to deserve this?" to "should i just stay with you and we go through dubai together and both hope for Wed arrival?" to "is this really the way we are spending our 8th anniversary (on the 1st) - on opposite sides of the planet rather than hugging our new child together?", and just sniffling and blowing our noses on our shirts, b/c we have no friggin' napkins in the car although we have 8 suitcases full of everything that 3 human beings and dozens of orphans we've brought donations for could ever need!

Honestly, I just DON'T want to go by myself! That's where the tears keep coming from. I DON'T want to be without my rock! I don't want to meet Addison for the first time without him. This was never the pot of gold that was supposed to be at the end of the rainbow. I'm scared. Of being alone. Of being in Ethiopia by myself with four suitcases, a baby who doesn't know me that I'm supposed to be the new mother of, a husband who is missing somewhere in the middle east, no reliable mean of communication, and not to even mention how I tend to get nervous/panicky when I'm in situations where i feel trapped and out of control. I couldn't be any more petrified. I had to say to myself as I fell asleep last night, "Wynne, you CAN do this. You CAN do this alone for a few days! You HAVE to do this. This is not about you. This is about Addison. He needs you. He's waited long enough for you. You can do anything you set your mind to. Put your big girl pants on. Stick your fear in your pocket. Buck up and do what has to get done to get your baby home." I'm still telling myself those things as the tears well up in my eyes and I fantisize about this being a bad dream.

I don't know if we'll be able to post again, b/c RR is going to take my wireless card with him to NYC and he's going to be frantically getting his shit together so that he can leave, but we'll try to keep you posted as much as possible. As of now, it should be fine. I'll get there, he'll get a new passport, then he'll get there, then we'll do our embassy appt we've waited 6 months for, and we'll fly home on Friday night as planned. A week from now, we could be in our bed at home. Or... well, let's not continue to go there.

Thanks everyone who's been there for us! Thank you for your calls and prayers and emails and wishes. We want so badly to be passing along great info so that following our crazy journey isn't the biggest buzzkill ever, but, honestly, nothing about this process has been easy. When will this actually EVER get to be about our adorable new son who will have his arms wrapped around our necks!? When will we ever get to celebrate!? Pray for us that it'll be only 1 more day for me and 2-3 days for Radames :(

IS THIS REAL!??

Do we really leave in 3 days!? Will we really be spending our anniversary in Africa? (8 years!) Will we really be "picking up" our new son!? This is so surreal. There really are no words.

But, of course, because I can always find words...we leave on Sat to drive to DC. We fly out of DC on Sun am directly to Addis Ababa. By Monday morning we'll be there and will get to "have" Addison that day! We'll be staying at the Ethiopia Guest Home (ethiopiaguesthome.com) which we are really excited about. It was built by two adoptive parents from California, so it's like a beach house in the middle of a city that sits atop a mountain. :) We are supposed to fly back on Friday night and arrive on Sat. We'll then drive home to start our new lives.

Sara Beth is coming to town to stay with Ella and take care of Brownie, and Smarty Pants work is all done! The details are getting wrapped up, the excitement is building and we just have no idea what to expect. It really is surreal!

We haven't even begun to pack bc we've been so busy with work and travel, but today's the big day for that. And, uh, maybe we should buy a bottle of something! Yikes. We're headed off to the dr today to get some altitude sickness medicine and various 'scrips for Addison, just in case. Tomorrow, we're going to see the nicest therapist lady in town who reminds me to breath and focus on what's important. Goodness knows I'm gonna need her to give me some perspective as we embark upon the biggest trip of our lives. Radames keeps reminding me that I have to just go with the flow and do as the Ethiopians do...e.g. expect the unexpected, not have a plan, be prepared for frustration, not think I'll be able to control anything, etc. Ah, that'll be easy. wink.

More to come

ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS!

Yikes! Are we really leaving in two weeks!? Could it really be true!? Addison is 10 months old now, so it's way overdue...but, wow, is it really here finally??

We finally bought him a few shirts today, so that's a start. But we are no more ready than the man on the moon. Work is as busy as ever, if not busier, so we just haven't been in baby mode at all. And I still have a trip to ATL, NYC and Chicago before we head out to DC on the eve of the 29th. That's not nerve racking at all. [insert excited sarcasm]

Anyhoo....we're trying to keep folks updated by email, too, so if you didn't just get an email from me, let me know and I'll add you to the list.