We got a medical update on baby M last week. It was from early July, so she would have been almost 9 months old at the time. She weighed almost 17lbs and was almost 27 inches long .She's been gaining about a pound a month since she came into care and is tracking well along the US growth charts. It seems that her pneumonia has cleared up. The big news with this update is that she was moved to the care center in Addis Ababa (the capital city) in preparation for our court date. This is a definite sign that we are near the finish line, but I am sad that she has to go through another transition.The nurse described her as "very playful and affectionate."


As expected, the courts in Ethiopia closed last Friday-ish. Happily, there was a flood of news on the Yahoo board of families being submitted to court, so at least they know that things are moving forward, and maybe they'll receive word about a scheduled court date shortly after the courts re-open at the end of September. BUT the most exciting news was that two of my good friends (who by the way, got their referrals for their kids as much as 5 weeks before us) FINALLY got assigned court dates! I was praying so hard, as I know many other were, that they would not have to wait through the 2 month court closures not having any idea when they would be traveling for their court dates. At the last possible moment, the word came through. I was crying and thanking God for showing me repeatedly through this journey that he does answer prayer. Now they can at least plan and count down the days...like we are :)


I went shopping for clothes for the first time. JCPenny had a great sale, and I had a "Friends and Family" coupon (thanks Becky!). Mark's mom sent her a swim suit all the way from Ireland. It's super cute. I can't wait to have a little person in these!

This is the close up of the one on the far right. When you cry over an outfit in the middle of a store, you have to buy it :)