Closer

So last week I was told by the embassy that my paperwork looked good so far but they did need to speak to the birth mother.  This is fairly normal and the birth parents that go through the court system are told that they will need to return for an embassy appointment.  I contacted my agency to see why they were not scheduling the birth mother appointment and they said that they were not sure when they would be able to make the 6 hour drive to go and get her.  I did get an email today that says that the director in Ethiopia will arrange transportation this week in order to get her to her appointment.  The director is waiting to get information from the Embassy as to what will work best for them.  I hope that the Embassy can get the birth mother in this week.  If the Embassy gets all the information from the birth mother that they need then I could get MY Embassy appointment soon. 

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jessica

Making Progress

It has been almost 6 weeks since passing court.  I thought the wait was going to be easier especially with the holidays here but that is not the case.  More and more people are asking me when Lennox is coming home which is making my wait horrible.  I received an email the day before Thanksgiving stating that my paperwork finally made it to the embassy. A two week process took 5 weeks. I then received an email today directly from the embassy.  The embassy stated that they are requesting  5 days to review my file and then they will give me an update on what my file looks like.  They will be able to tell me if paperwork is missing or if they want clarification of certain paperwork.  This process is currently taking 2-12 weeks.  The cases where a child is found abandoned is taking the longest and that is not the situation in my case.  The birth mother of Lennox went through the court system and gave her rights away voluntarily.  This should shorten my wait time.  Once the embassy reviews my file and approves it they will give me an embassy date which is usually 1 week after approval.  I will travel to Ethiopia for this appointment.  They will ask me similar question to those that I answered at court.  They will ask if I met Lennox, if I agree with the adoption, and if I have received payment to take him, or paid the birth mother for him.  They will then apply for his visa/passport which will take 2 business days.  Once I have his passport in my hand we will  head home.  I will update the blog with any new information. I just pray and hope that the approval process by the US embassy does not take 12weeks.  I am going to contact the embassy next week to see if they can give me an idea of what my file looks like and an estimated timeline.

                                                                    UPDATED PHOTO
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Jessica

Video of Lennox

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waiting....

Well it has been 3 weeks since passing court to become Lennox's mother.  It is crazy to be home without him, but I need the time to get Kadin ready.  He insist that Lennox's name is Clinton (my super cute baby nephew).  He will go into Lennox's room and say "Clinton's room" "Clinton's bed" "Clinton's seat".  I correct him and tell him that it is Lennox's room, bed, and seat but now it is a game.  I just hope that once Lennox is home that he will realize that Clinton and Lennox are two separate babies. 

I was told 3 weeks ago that cases were being reviewed by the US Embassy within 3 months.  I have been told by many adoptive parents that contacting the US Embassy for updates is frowned upon by adoption agencies.  Well I am going to wait 8 weeks and then contact the US Embassy to see if they can give me an update on where Lennox's file is.  I would hate for his file to be collecting dust on a desk in Ethiopia. 

I hope that I get updated photos of Lennox but I am not sure if I will.  I can't imagine not getting any updates of him. He is going to grow up so much in the next few months.  I hope and pray that I will be able to go pick up Lennox before 12 weeks.  I will update the blog if I find out anything.

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Jessica

My Video 10/22/11 at OneTrueMedia.com

My journey to meet my son Lennox!

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Last day

Today was a very bitter sweet day. I filled out the visa paperwork for Lennox. It is Ethiopian law that the child's middlename be the fathers first name. Well since I am the mother and father poor Lennox gets Jessica as his middle name. First thing we will do when he gets to states is change his name!!!!! I hung out with Lennox for two hours this morning in the courtyard thinking about how amazing my time has been with him. I was geting ready to put him in his bed when the nanny handed me a bowl of white slime. I asked what to do with it and she said "feed him" GROSS!!!! Turns out it was mashed potatoes (yay right). He ate everything and slowly slipped into a food coma, so I went to put him in his bed and he starter to whimper. I quickly walked with Betty (directors wife) out of the compound. She made me lunch and we gossiped about life stuff all afternoon. We made our way back to the guest house around 1:30 and she insisted onhaving a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceramony. It was very neat to see the roasting of the beans, heating the water over coals, and popping the popcorn. It was all done right on the living room floor. I then went to my room after three cups of coffee and packed my things. I was told that we would be leaving in ten minutes. Immediate panic set in because I was not ready to say goodbye. Well not ready to say good ye in ten minutes. I walked into lennox's room and he was crying the most awful screech. I have only ever heard him whimper but this was a full blown crocodile tears. I heard the director yelling "we go now" I picked up Lennox in that moment and he was on fire. I told the nurse and nanny that he had a fever but they said he was fine he was just sad. I knew in my gut that something was wrong with my baby. I pleaded with them to give him something and they said he was fine. Again the director yelled. I hugged and kissed my baby for the last time in months knowing that I could not comfort him. He needed me and I couldn't do anything. Heartbroken yet again.

More later
Sorry for typos. On iPhone in airport!
Jessica

court...

Today was the day that I went to court to see if Ethiopia would approve my adoption.  I woke up this morning feeling the same as every other morning here.  I got dressed for court yet again and went down for breakfast. The director meet me at the table and he was on the phone almost the entire time.  Him being on the phone is not abnormal but this is the first time I could hear him say certain words "American" "Court" "Jessica".  This was the first time that I have seen the look of worry on his face and hear the anxiety in his voice.  When he got off the phone I asked him if everything was okay and he said "This is African, we have much worries today".  We drove to court and walked inside to a room that was about 20X20 with gray chairs bolted on all sides.  The director and I were the first ones there so we sat down and waited. About 20 minutes later the entire room was packed with at least 50 people from all around the world.  I asked the director if he knew why these people where here and he said they were all adopting.  It was a great feeling to know that there were children going to be saved by these amazing strangers.  I immediately felt a connection with them. There were American, Japanese, Australians, Canadians, and others all waiting in anticipation to see if our dreams were about to come true.  So about 10 people walked in and out of the attached room within about 30 minutes.  It was so quick and the people coming out looked shocked.  I was afraid that court was being cancelled again.  The door opened and I hear "Children Nation" announced.  The director started to walk towards the door and I assumed that "Children Nation" was my case.  I walked into a room that was 15X8 with a black metal desk at one end stacked with files and 3 gray chairs sitting about 10 feet away.  The director told me to sit while he stood behind me.  He talked to the young female judge in Amharic for about 30 seconds and then the tiniest sweetest voice in English said "Passport Please" I walked over and handed her my passport.  She looked me right int he eyes with the most endearing look on her face and said...

"Please sit down so we can talk"
"Do you understand why you are here"
       "yes"
"Do you have a child of your own?"
       "no"
"Do you understand that you need to teach your child the Ethiopian culture?"
        "yes"
"Have you spent time with Tekedalign?"
       "yes"
"Do you want to adopt him?"
       "yes"
"Do you understand that if I approve this adoption today that Tekedalign is legally yours and you can not under any circumstance give up your right to him?"
      "yes I understand"
"You have a lot of work ahead of you. I approve your adoption, congratulations on your son"
       "Thank you"

The door opened and the director and I walked out through the people waiting their turn. We got on the elevator and went down to the car. The director looked at me and said "Now you cry".  My body was numb, i could not believe that 3 minutes in front of the judge was it.  Lennox at that moment was mine. The entire ride home I listened to the director  talk about how we just have to wait for the US Embassy to review the file and approve Lennox citizenship.  So it is not over yet.  I now have a son who is not allowed to come into the United States.  The US Embassy is currently taking 8-12 weeks to review files and grant Visa and Passports. 

We got back to the guest house and I went straight to see Lennox and he was sleeping so I just gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.  I picked him up after his nap and we had the most amazing time. We sat on the floor and played while he showed me more of his sweet personality.  He started to fall asleep around 6pm so I took him back to his bed so that they could feed him dinner.  Tomorrow will be my last day with him for awhile but I feel at peace with that.  I know I am going to miss him like crazy, but I need to get back to Kadin.  The nannies here are amazing and I know that they will take great care of my son.    MY SON!!!  I can't wait to flood the blog with pictures of Lennox.  Just a couple more days and his perfect little smile will be in your hearts forever.

more later
Jessica