This is the email that Sarah sent me Monday morning our time. Please pray - sounds like it will be a rough transition for the baby.
Susan, Sarah's mom

This morning we filled out paperwork and then walked over to hannah's hope. our first meeting with Fikrte did not go well. she was asleep when we got there so we just left her. 15 min later i went back up there to just look at her. one of the nannies woke her up and handed her to me. wow was she upset. we can tell she is very attached to the nannies which is a good thing. i got to watch them feed her, but if we tried to get close to her she got upset. later i held her in my lap while she watched another baby being fed. she kind of let me do that, but wanted to stand alot with help. we are okay though it was pretty hard. she is the oldest of the babies and watches everything that is going on in the room. the director Almaz told me that in general she is happy but will loudly tell you when she doesn't like something (sounds like Tobin). she is also known as the drama queen of the group when it comes to eating (and in general i think) and is very dramatic about everything.

it is noon here and we are back at the hotel eating. in an hour we will go back and pick her up and take her with us to the embacy. then we will have her for good. i am afraid she will cry all day. i guess i have had that before. tobin has gotten us ready for anything. she is cute though and has a ton of attitude.

Sarah and Clark

Off to Ethiopia

The car is full of luggage and they are ready to go!
Tobin looks a little sad - he realizes they are leaving.

This is Sarah's mom doing a posting for her. I just received word that we had a miracle at the airport already. As you know they packed 3 large tubs full of formula and diapers and another duffel bag full of the same. We weighed and weighed them trying to make sure they weren't over 50 lbs. Including Sarah and Clark's suitcase, that made 5 pieces - one extra that would possibly be charged over $120. This morning when we recalibrated the scale we found that the tubs were all about 58 lbs!! They considered taking things out, but decided to pray for favor - and we also prayed that every tub would miraculously weigh under 50.
When they got to the airport, Clark showed the ticket agent Jessa's picture and the letter from the orphanage explaining that everything was donations for the orphanage. She was still concerned about them being overweight though. As each tub came on the scale, Clark prayed out loud, Help us Lord! Two weighed in at 49 lbs and one at 50 lbs! The agent never even mentioned paying for the 5th piece so they didn't have to pay anything!! The extra money that was donated for the luggage charges will now go straight to the orphanage for more formula, diapers, food, etc.
I will posting for Sarah as soon as I get updates from her. Keep praying!

Packing

One day to go! I can't believe it. I have been packing for two weeks now, but only now have everything so that I can finish.

Our main packing problem has been the ton of formula and donations that we have gotten. I am so grateful for all of them and determined to take every last formula and diaper. So Clark and I decided to only take 1 checked bag between us and the baby.

That's right people I said 1 bag (and some carry-ons)!

Here is it open before closing it. It is right at (slightly under) 50 pounds. I am a major over packer, so for the first time I have really scaled down. I have done a lot of planning and choose every tiny little thing that has gone in very carefully. Everything is needed. Hopefully my planning will have been correct and we will have everything that we must have.

We will see if all of this comes back to bite me while in Ethiopia.

So with our one checked bag, we can bring 3 others for free.

If you have not read my post about the formula, it is below. As it said we were given over 60 cans of formula by our friends and a school. My Mom's school also did a diaper, wipes, and formula drive and I got another 10 cans and tons of diapers.

We have packed 3 tubs that weigh just under 50 pounds. The bottom 3/4 ths of the tubs are filled with the 70 something cans of formula and the tops are full of diapers and clothes. An Auburn college store even sent us a bunch of little kids' clothes for the orphanage. I would love to see what a bunch of little African orphans look like in Auburn orange overalls.

We still had a ton of donations left over so we are going to have to take an extra bag to fit the couple more formula cans and the rest of the wipes and diapers. We have called Ethiopian airlines and they said that they would not give us a break on extra luggage even if it was formula for Ethiopian orphans. So I think we will have to pay for the extra bag. We will see when we get to the airport. I am praying for a miracle.

Well I have a ton to do so I better go. I am not looking forward to having to say goodbye to Tobin. He loves my parents so I think he will be fine, but I might be a mess on the flight from Atlanta to DC.

We are leaving tomorrow afternoon and will get to DC around 5pm. Then we are meeting some of the other AGCI traveling families near our Ethiopian flight gate. Then at 8:30 pm on Saturday night we will be off to Ethiopia! We get into Addis Ababa Sunday night their time and will be meeting baby Jessa Monday morning. I am so emotional just thinking about it.

Please check my blog every day or so starting on Monday because I am going to email my mom updates to put on the blog.

Ethiopia here we come!

Formula, Formula, and More Formula

I have formula coming out of my ears and it is awesome!!!! Ever since I posted and emailed about the formula shortage in Ethiopia I have gotten a great response from our friends.

So far I have collected 21 cans from our friends at church and here in Atlanta. Thanks everyone! My friend Sara in AL even sent me money to buy more.

Then I got a great surprise. I got an email from a mom of two that lives about an hour from me and is looking into adoption from All God's Children. April found my blog and started collecting formula. She had a friend that was a teacher and they did a formula drive at the school. I met her yesterday and she is so amazing and nice. She brought me 40 cans of formula!!!!! It was so nice to meet a new friend and she even has a little boy a few years older than Tobin.

This is what 40 cans of formula looks like. Thanks April for your hard work!!!! I can't wait to take it over to all of the babies in Ethiopia. My Mom is also doing a formula, diaper, and wipes drive at her school so who knows how much more I will get this week. Right now I am trying to figure out how to get it all over to Ethiopia.

Lots of Crying Around Here

There has seemed to be a lot of crying around my house lately. Poor Tobin is having a rough time of things. I keep wondering if he knows that I am leaving and soon he will no longer be the baby. He wants to be held or carried all of the time and throws fits over everything. His new thing is to cry about everything. Sometimes it is fake crying that involves a lot of sniffling, but often there are real tears as well. He cries about everything. He cries the most if someone tells him no besides me. His feelings get very hurt and he gets embarrassed. I am also weaning him, so I think that has a lot to do with his bad mood and fussy behavior. Poor little guy. I really feel for him.

Of course I have found myself tearing up as well over silly things. Tobin was watching the musical Annie the other day (yes, he loves musicals and this one has kids, dancing, and a dog his three favorite things) and I teared up at the part where the orphans sadly sing the line "won't you please come get your baby". I am choking up just typing this.

We leave for Ethiopia in a week and a half. Hold on baby, we are coming to get you!

Travel Advice

Wow, it has been quite a week. Clark has been working late every single night since last weekend. Last Saturday night he even worked until 3am. We have so much to do before we leave in less than two weeks and with him never here it is very hard. Also I miss him. Tobin misses him too.

I did get a great surprise though that really made my week. One of the moms who's blog I read (http://mfamilyblog.blogspot.com/) just returned from Ethiopia with their 9 month old daughter (who is soooo cute). I had asked her some travel advice and she ended up calling me and we talked for a while. It was so nice to hear first hand what I should bring, buy, and expect. Michelle even prayed for us and our baby at the end of the phone conversation. I feel much better. Thanks Michelle!

I am so excited about finally getting to meet my new daughter. I lay in bed at night and think about what it will be like to walk into that orphanage and see her for the first time. I love her so much and yet she doesn't even know that we exist. There are so many questions that I have and so many unknowns. I can't wait to finally see her, hold her, and kiss those fat cheeks.

Finally More Details

I was so happy to finally get some more information about our baby girl. Our agency sent us her measurements, size, and schedule in the orphanage. Besides our referral information months ago this is the only information we have gotten about her. No new pictures of course and since they are not allowing other visiting families take pictures of our kids for us, we won't get anymore. I would have liked to have more pictures for her baby book besides her at only two different ages.

Well, I am happy to find out that Jessa is at 11 months old 18 pounds, which sounds pretty normal if not a little small. She looks chunky in the pictures we got months ago. I am still not sure what size clothes she wears. They said she is in 5-8 month clothes, which we really don't have here in the U.S. I have been buying a variety of sizes and will just leave the too small ones at the orphanage. I love buying girl clothes!!!!!! I like buying clothes for Tobin too, but girl clothes are so much more fun! I have been wanting to buy some since before Tobin was born.

The information sheet says that she still takes 8 bottles a day with one every two or three hours - including at night. So she is still waking up every 3 hours. I guess she will fit in just fine with Tobin. So no one will be getting sleep in our house!

Here is what they said about her personality: You can pick her up and hold her, we have no concerns. "F" is a very content baby. She is sweet spirited and adorable.

They also go on to say that when she is tired she can throw fits and cry. Again she will fit in this family just fine. Hopefully both her and Tobin won't throw fits at the same time.

I can't wait to actually hold her and see what she is really like! Less than 3 weeks we leave. I have so much to do and I am running around doing all kinds of stuff. I am trying not to be stressed. It will all get done.

I am still worried about leaving Tobin, but I think he will be fine. He loves my parents and when he gets to play with them, he says "bye mama" and waves me off. Of course unspoiling him once I come home will be hard. He has "GaGa" and "Bobba" wrapped around his little finger. He is king of his little world after all aren't all two year olds. I don't mind though because that is what grandparents are for.