Court Date

We finally have a court date!  It's February 15th!

Since there have been so many questions that I haven't been able to answer over the past month, I'll try to put out as much information as I'm allowed at the moment.

Baby info:  Because the Ethiopian government does not recognize him as our child until after court, we aren't allowed to send his picture electronically in any form or put out any type of identifying information.  I can say he's now 6 months old and he has minor special needs but nothing other than that.  Oh, and I think he's absolutely beautiful!  In person, I can tell you all about him, though...except for his personal history which will be his story to tell someday.  As soon as we pass court in February we will have all legal rights to him and will share his picture here!

Tentative plans:  Our court trip is the first one and we have to appear in the Ethiopian court to gain legal custody of him.  We plan on leaving the weekend of February 11, arrive in ET on Sunday the 13th, meet him on Valentine's Day!!! and then go to court on Tuesday the 15th.  We will probably leave that evening and travel all day Wednesday to get back home.  It's a short trip and the jetlag will definitely be a beast when we go back to work on Thursday but SO worth it.

We get to meet our little guy on Valentine's Day...the day of love.

After we get home, we will await an Embassy date.  We will have to do a Visa interview at the Embassy about a month after court (so sometime in March) and by then his visa papers will be filed and his passport will be ready.  Hopefully, we will be able to have a meeting with the birthfamily at this time and tour the country some, etc.  I think the second trip will be so much fun!

Also, there is a family from our agency who is leaving tomorrow to get their little one and they have offered to take more pictures of him!  When they get back home, they will email us pictures and I will have them printed and with me so if you see me anytime after Christmas, I'll have updated pictures!  The two we have right now are outdated, as babies change so quickly.  I can't wait to see how he's growing!

I've been so behind on this blog...I started an 'October' post ummmm back in October?  Yeah, it's not even finished yet.  I think I may catch up by doing a quick photo update on the past few months soon.  I have updates on where we stand with money, etc. but tonight, court is the most important information so that's what got posted.

**Please pray for our baby's little body...pray he grows big and strong.  I will be able to disclose more information about this after court.  He's already gained 4# in the past 6 weeks!  We're so proud of him.

**Please pray for Cooper to be accepting and understanding of the family transition that will be taking place very soon.

**Please pray for birthmom...that she finds comfort.  We pray that she is willing to meet us when that time comes and have an open conversation.  We don't want her to be intimidated, or ashamed.