This has been a whirlwind of a week as we had to pleasure of seeing our little girl's face and sharing our news with family and friends!!! After we received our referral picture I quickly sent it to another family that helped to set up our agencies humanitarian aid projects in Ethiopia. She emailed me 12 more pictures of our little girl!!! These pictures were amazing!! The quality was so good that I could zoom in so close to gush over every detail of her little face and even her cute little outy belly button. She also shared a little bit about her personality which was INCREDIBLE to hear...She is very active (much like Wuby I am sure), sweet, and a little shy. She also likes to hang out in the baby room because she likes to be with the nannies....and that she will probably be a mommy's girl. The fact that we could get more info from other families about our daughter is such a HUGE blessing that BFAS affords to families. With Wuby's adoption we had 1 very very sad picture of her for 3 months and than another tiny picture of her bald on her birth certificate a few weeks before we traveled....I remember wondering if she smiled, had teeth, or was every happy. I now 4 days after referral have a small photo album of pictures!!! I am so glad to have these pictures to hold me over during the long wait for court and travel. From these pictures and others reports I know she is happy and loved...which makes it easier to bear the time we will be away from one another.
A few FAQ's :
Is she from the same place as Wuby?: Our newest little girl is also from Ethiopia though we are not sure where in ET yet. She is in a different orphanage than Wuby but in the same city (Addis Ababa) as Wuby was in while we waited to pick her up.
Travel: If all go well we will probably travel in late May but if we do not pass court the first or second time we may not travel until as late as August. With Wuby we only had to wait 3 (agonizing) months to travel but assigned court dates are running about 3 months out from sumittion for a court date. After we pass court it will be an additiona 2-4 weeks until we travel. Please be in prayer for our agency as they prepare all of the paperwork to submit to court.
Who's Going: I will be traveling alone to pick up our little girl. Wubitu is not ready for both of us to be gone for a long time. So Torrey will stay home and be fresh and ready to receive a travel weary wife and likely confused little girl.\
What's her name?: We do not have her Ethiopian name yet...they should come along with the medical reports next week. For her American name we have chosen the name Marjorie in honor of my great grandmother. We have been calling her Maree for short. We will likely use her Ethiopian name as a middle name like we did with Keziah Wubitu. However, as you can tell from this blog and talking to Wuby we call her both names. Probably Wubitu more than Keziah but she usually interchanges them as she pleases. Once we get to Kindergarten she will likely have to pick 1 for the year though.
Pictures: As with Wuby's adoption we cannot post pictures on the internet until she is legally ours. With BFAS they have asked us to wait until we are home with our child. However, if you see me I am sure I will attack you with my new photo album as I gush about her adorable features!!!