Guardianship Court Date Received!!

We are SO EXCITED to share that we have received our guardianship court date and it is...................................................DRUMROLL PLEASE................................................................

JUNE 5TH!!!!!!

The process thus far has moved far more quickly than we anticipated!!  God is pouring out his grace on our family! :)  Based on the timeline we have seen with other families, this could mean that we could be headed to Ethiopia in late June or early July!  To add to the excitement, some great adoptive friends of our are headed to Ethiopia to meet their precious girl tomorrow morning!!!!  Can't wait to see the pics of their precious K and M as well!!!  

Still cannot believe this is all happening so quickly!!!  Praise God!!!

Court submission!!!

We found out yesterday that our case been submitted to court!!!!  After such a long wait, we are moving quickly!  Our next step is to find out when the guardianship court date will be scheduled.  This will be when M's caretakers go before the judge to state that being placed with our family is in her best interest as her birth family is not able to care for her.  Soon after this court date and the receipt (by the Ethiopian court) of a letter from the Ethiopian Ministry of Women's Affairs, our adoptive parent court date will be scheduled.  These two court dates are starting to happen pretty close to one another - two to four weeks apart.  Our first trip will be approximately one week where we will get to meet M, hopefully do a little exploration around Addis Ababa, attend our court hearing, and head back home.  Then there will be approximately 8 weeks before we travel again.  In this time, they will process M's adoption in Ethiopia and generate her new birth certificate, passport, and visa .  When all this is done, they will schedule our Embassy date to get clearance to bring her home!

M is 5 months old today!!! :)

Our little Ethiopian blessing........

Wow!!!!  It's clear that being back in reality really has put a damper on my blogging! :)  So much for using the blog to keep track of all the special moments!!!

Well, since February a LOT has happened!  Nicolas is doing very well in school, and only has 2 weeks left until his very first summer break!!

He has been playing AYSO soccer and is LOVING it!  Here are a few shots:

And the most exciting reason for this post is that 2 1/2 weeks ago, we received some amazing news. 

We're expecting!!!  

What does Nicolas think about it?  Watch this!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOHMyLOUnWA

Baby M was born just before Christmas in Ethiopia (and to think we were in Africa when she was born!!).  She is a little peanut at about 10 pounds, but is happy and healthy!  We have not been given a timeline yet, but are guessing based on the timelines of other families that we could potentially take our first trip in August.  Again, guessing here, that would put us back in Ethiopia to bring her home in October.  Ethiopian courts close annually for several weeks in August and September, so we are praying to make it over before the closure!  

As if that isn't enough excitement for one post, another family we know is going to be heading to Ethiopia in less than two weeks (!!!!!) and they are going to be able to take pictures and video of M for us!!  We can hardly wait - not only for them to meet their precious girl, but for them to be able to hold M and love on her for us!!

We would love your prayers for M - for continued health and growth, that she would feel loved every moment of every day, that she would receive the care, nurturing, nourishment, and love that she needs, and that God would begin to prepare her precious heart for the major changes that are coming in her life!

Even almost three weeks later, I still cannot believe it!!  We are so very blessed to be able to bring this little angel into our family.  Thank you all for your prayers, encouragement, and support.