I'll Be Back

Dad and I are all checked in at the airport and about to start boarding.  I don't have enough time to post much about the family good-byes (other than to say my eyes are very red) but I can share some of the pictures that Erin took (and THANK YOU for EVERYTHING Erin)!!!

Last picture of our family of four at home

Me and Jeff right before our goodbyes

Tears for the girls - the boys were a bit more stoic.

This will be the longest Jeff and I have been apart since he was in Grad school.

-B

Do You Want To Know A Secret

Today I leave home.
Tomorrow I get on a plane.
The day after that I will be in Kinshasa.
And the day after that I will beholding my babies.


I am REALLY eager to hold my babies.  But, now that it's time to go...everything else is actually pretty scary.  I am really surprised at how anxious and scared and weepy I've been over the past few days.


I am one of those uber-confidant take-on-the-world kind of people.  I am an OCD-style planner and prepare for everything anyone could possibly think of.  I love to travel overseas.  It's one of my favorite things to do. And I love babies!!!  I'm a five time foster mom and have already experience (and enjoyed) the strange "here's someone else's child for you to love and adore and care for as you own" phenomenon.  Each time was a wonderful experience...and this time I get to actually be a forever mom to children I already love.


But right now I am a totally freaked out.  I'm worried about leaving my family for six weeks.  I'm scared by the prospect of living in Congo for six weeks.  I'm terribly worried about all of the things that could go wrong (and have gone wrong for other adoptive parents) with the passport applications, the I-600 and visa applications, and DGM.  And I worry about the babies' health and my health and (of course) our safety.  I feel like everything is so out of my control - probably because it is.


So, if you happen to call me and you can't tell you are talking to me because I'm sobbing (sorry Ruth!) or if I send you an email with massive typos because my hands are shaking, please just say a little prayer for me.


-B

It Won't Be Long

This time next week Dad and I should be in Kinshasa, DRC.  Today I received a FedEx package containing our passports with Congolese visas!!!  That was the last thing that had to be completed before being able to pass through DRC customs.  And last night I took my first dose of mefloquine (malaria prophylaxis).  Hang in there Nat and Katie Mumbi...Mama's coming SOON!

-B

Ticket To Ride

Exactly one week from now Dad and I should be taking off at Dulles airport and heading to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  After a 13.5 hour flight we should land in Ethiopia were we will have 1.5 hours to make our connecting flight.  It takes just under 4.5 hours to fly to Brazzaville, Republic of Congo where we will sit on the plane for an hour before hoping over the river (literally - we could get off in Brazzaville and take a ferry across the Congo river) with a 25 minute flight to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.


We should arrive in Kinshasa at 1:05 pm on May 1 and then spend the next half hour or so going through (hot and sweaty) customs.  Then we will be met at the airport by our agency's baggage handler who will take our baggage claim forms and escort us to the car where we will meet David, our agency's Kinshasa representative. From what I understand, David will be helping us A LOT while we are in Kinshasa.  He is our go-to guy!


Once our SIX checked bags have been collected then we will drive into Kinshasa to be deposited at our residence for the next 4-6 weeks, Procure St. Anne.  This drive could take anywhere from 45 minutes to 4 hours.  We should arrive at St. Anne's with enough time to settle in before figuring out what we are going to do for dinner our first night there.


The following day (May 2) will be the BIG DAY!!!  My children will be brought to us!!!  From that point on my babies will be with me!!!  (which explains why I need six checked bags)  Oh happy day!!!  We are definitely worried that this transition will be difficult on Katie Mumbi...so I'm trying to prepare in every way I can to help her through this major (and scary and traumatic) life event.  I'm saying a lot of prayers for my sweet baby girl.  I don't know why but for some reason I expect that Nat will do just fine.  Maybe it's because he is younger.  Maybe it's because he looks so happy in his latest picture.  But I am definitely praying for a good transition for him, too.


Speaking of the bags...oh, the bags!!!  Evidently, there is a size limit and a weight limit!  If you go over the size and the weight limit there is a fee (or they can reject your bags out right and make you ship them via cargo).  Between me and my Dad we have an allowance of four checked bags.  My plan is to make certain that those four bags meet the size and weight limit exactly.  But the extra two bags are going to be slightly larger and they are going to weigh slightly more.  I'm hoping that we will just pay an extra extra fee - which should be less than paying an extra bag fee plus an excess weight fee on our allowance bags.


Originally, I planned on stuffing our carry-on bags with all of the essential items that I couldn't do without (in case checked bags get lost).  But evidently, Ethiopian has a very strict weight limit of 15 pounds for carry on bags.  It does not take much to get to 15 pounds!!!  So right now I am choosing which essentials really aren't that essential.  And I am evenly dividing my supplies between my checked bags and praying that if bags are lost that it is only one or two bags and I will have enough supplies in the other bags to get by.


Remember my nice and neat piles?  This is the current state of packing:

-B

Dizzy Miss Lizzy

Today is my dear daughter's 16th Birthday!!!  I can hardly believe how time has flown and how Liz has grown from a tiny little baby to the beautiful young woman she is now.  I have loved spending the past 16 years with her and I am looking forward to our next 16 years together.  Happy 16th Birthday, Lizzy!!!

-B

A Taste Of Honey

Last night the phone rang and I answered.  The following conversation made me very happy (and a little teary):

Woman on the phone: "May I speak with Katherine Wolfe"

Me: "This is her mother."

Woman on the phone: "Is she available?"

Me: "She is two years old."

Woman on the phone: "Oh.  Okay.  Her prescriptions are ready at the Martin's pharmacy."

Me: "Are Nathaniel's ready as well?"

Woman on the phone: "Yes, they are."

Me: "Great!  I'll pick them up tomorrow."

That was the first time anyone has called our home and asked for Katherine Wolfe.  Such a good thing!!!  And that was the time I was able to say, "This is her mother."  Oh, how good that felt to say!!!

-B

Flying

It's time!!!  Time to travel!!!  Time to get my babies!!!

Dad and I are meeting up at Dulles airport on April 29th and we are flying to Africa on the morning of the 30th.  We should arrive in Kinshasa by mid-day on May 1st...and the next day I should have my babies in my arms!!!  We have tickets!!!  We have applied for our visas.  And we have our rooms booked at Procure Sainte-Anne!!!

-B

Ooh! My Soul

Ooh, it is so nice to celebrate today!  It is wonderful to come out of the dark days of Lent and into the celebration of the light of our risen Christ.  I know that this holds such significance to us in living our lives each and every year (and month, and week, and day)...but right now all I can think about is coming out of the dark days of adoption paperwork/waiting and into the light of holding our new children in our arms.  I hope it happens soon!!!  We should receive an update tomorrow or Tuesday and I am really praying that we will hear that the children's Congolese passports are in hand and we can request our Embassy appointments.

We do have another thing to celebrate today.  Today is Tip's 14th birthday!  We enjoyed  a scrumptious sushi dinner at Umi last night and tonight I am cooking his favorite, chicken piccata.  Tip is looking forward to spring break this week and he is especially glad to visit our dear friends at Lake Anna on Tuesday for one more birthday celebration!

I don't have any pictures of the birthday boy to share today but I do have a photo of our beautiful Easter eggs.  As pretty as they are this year we are really looking forward to having Easter eggs dyed by toddlers next year!

-B

I'm Happy Just To Dance With You

I am happy, happy, happy that April is here!  We have so much to look forward to in the coming two months!  Tip and Liz will both have birthdays.  We will get passports and Embassy appointments for Katie Mumbi and Nat.  And best of all, within the next 40 days I should be getting on a plane to Africa!!!

We are only four days into April and we have already started off with really great things.  On Sunday Erin threw me an Adoption Shower!  It was so much fun to get together with my dear friends and celebrate the two new little ones.  We received such wonderful gifts and I am totally grateful for all of the sweet sentimental treasures, the necessities for my six weeks in Africa, and of course the hand-me-downs!  I really appreciate Erin's loving generosity and all of the support she has given to our family through our entire adoption journey.  I also appreciate my wonderful oldest child who (in addition to being a lovely person, devoted daughter, and fantastic big sister) baked two delicious and beautiful cakes for the party! And I appreciate my good friends who are all so eager to help us welcome our new children!

We are four days into April and our house looks very different than it did four days into March.  Tip has settled into his new room up in the attic.  He now has a bigger bed but a smaller closet - a pretty decent trade considering how tall he is now.  Tip's old room has received a thorough cleaning and a fresh coat of paint.  We brought Liz and Tip's old play stands, train table, and play kitchen down from the attic and converted the room to Katie Mumbi and Nat's new playroom.  Friends and grandparents are already filling it with toys, dolls, dress up clothes, puzzles, and other lovies.  It is a perfect playroom for the two little ones.

April has brought good news on the Congo paperwork front.  We received an email Sunday night that a new attorney has been added to the team in Lubumbashi.  Hopefully this will help speed up things on the ground in Lubumbashi for all of the agency's families.  But this also meant that Jeff and I had to create, notarize, and certify additional documents that allow this attorney to represent us.  I spent the entire day Monday working to complete that.  I finished my part, the documents are being translated right now, and the originals will be delivered to the agency this afternoon.  The other good paperwork news from Congo comes from the first few families who are currently in Kinshasa with their children and working to complete the US Immigration process and then the DGM exit permit process.  Two of the four families have already had their children's US visas approved!  This is a HUGE step forward and it seems to have happened very quickly for those two families.

As I look forward to all of the good things that April brings I am also busy, busy, busy getting everything in order for my trip.  I will leave you with these pictures of the newly outfitted playroom...and the Africa piles.  Four piles are for checked bags and one pile is for my carry-ons.  I am pushing weight limits already so I may need to pay for a fifth checked bag.

-B