She is 8 months old tomorrow (the 15th). I'm trying to view this time passing as another month closer to her, rather than another month of her life we have missed...I said "trying". :) 

I started my vaccinations last week and still have a bruise from the tetanus one.:( That one really hurt, and I said a bad word at the doctor's office. Not a good sign since I hear the Yellow Fever one is the worst. We should both be done with all of ours in the next couple of weeks.

We don't expect any news about a court dates for any of us two-trippers for two or three weeks. Trying to be patient. I don't have to like it :)

God chose her for us and the agony of waiting that we are enduring is nothing compared to what she has already been through. She is being very well taken care of . We get reports from traveling families that the babies are very loved and are picked up as soon as they cry, which is one of  the reasons we chose Ethiopia
and our agency.
As far as her being chosen for us, I think  left out a few not so coincidental details from her referral post.
1). The date that her birth family signed the relinquishment form was the day we were added to our agency's wait list.
2). I looked back at our calendar to see what we were doing on her birthday. We were attending a candle light vigil at our church honoring the two babies we lost...praying that God would bless us with a child. We came home and called some friends of ours (scheduled a couple of weeks prior) to discuss their recent news that they were perusing domestic adoption. We basically grilled them :) It was our first step in this amazing journey.

Missing "our" baby girl ....

For your listening pleasure: Adele- "Make You Feel my Love"

It's been about one month since we accepted the referral of our future daughter and although we've been very busy, the wait is getting very hard. People keep asking me questions like, "Aren't you excited?!". My answer is "yes", but excitement isn't really the word I'd use. Our excitement over her referral lasted only a few short moments, then my mind turned to thoughts of sadness and worry. Sadness over the pain and loss she and her birth family are going through. Worry over the transition she is facing now and will face when she comes home to us. You see, the sobering part is that I love her so much already, but I don't even know her. I've never laid eyes on her. I have never held her in my arms or kissed those chubby cheeks. Now that I know who she is, the wait is very hard. I long for her, but also realize that she has no idea who we are or that we are even coming. All I know is that God chose us for her and her for us, but I pray He unites us sooner than later.

The biggest struggle of the waiting is the uncertainty. We are part of a rule change in the Ethiopian court system and are required to travel to ET for our court date. To date, none of the families in our agency who are required to travel twice have received notice of their court dates...and some have been waiting a month longer then us. It seems that the courts and the agencies are still trying to figure out how it is all going to work. We are all trying to be patient, but with the rainy season court closures beginning in mid August, that's easier said than done.

So I'm asking for prayers again, not when you happen to think of it, but right now, please.
Write "COURT DATE" on a post it, stick it somewhere visible and...
pray for us to get a court date before the end of July whenever you see it. Getting delayed by the rainy season court closures could mean an extra two months that she would have to spend in a orphanage and I can't bear the though of that. than you in advance :)

On a more up-beat note. We did receive a surprise email with new pics the other day. She's two months older in these pictures then in her referral pics. We're happy to see that she's growing well, but sad to be missing this time with her. She is even cuter than in her first pics (if you can believe that) and even has a little smile in one of them, just what I needed to see. If you see me around, just ask...I'm more then happy to show her off.

We've also been working very hard on a big toy storage contraption. This is only the shell. It will have a back on it and wood across the bottom front of each row to form bins. We're going to paint it white like the dresser and may even add a bit of trim. It's 3.5ft wide and 4ft high (huge lack of storage in our little cottage). We're going to anchor them together, but each row can be used on it's own, maybe as a row of benches in a playroom down the line.

The answer to your question is "No. We cannot build one for you." :)

Again, prayer requests please:
1) Court date very soon.
2) continued good health for baby girl
3) peace and comfort for her birth family
4) healing and blessing for the people of Ethiopia and Africa.