A Few Weeks to Go...

Ok, so life has been busy lately.  We don't have long until we head over to meet our son!  So what has been going on?

Well, some wonderful friends threw us a baby shower!

My friend Jody hosted the shower and ran with the African Jungle theme!  I loved the decor!

 Love the combo of giraffe and Mexican dip!

 Many many blessings were poured upon us!  Some fun gifts included Baby boy's first Chicago Bears shirt: 

A fleece blanket with jungle animals and giraffe spots, handmade by a friend.

Probably the funniest moment was trying to make a baby out of play-doh with my eyes closed, and opening up a mailed baby shower package- only to find my laundry inside!  (oops, left that at a friend's house on a trip, and they were kind enough to mail it back with the baby shower gifts!)

Hmm… what kind of present is in this laundry bag??

-----------

We also had the pleasure of hosting family.  My husband's brother came up for a visit with his wife and my niece and nephew.  What better way to explore with my niece and nephew than to take them to see one of the most awesome planes, an F-22!

Not only that, but my mom surprised me and showed up for the shower as well!

So, after hosting 5 people in our house, we decided it was enough for a little while… just kidding!  My friend Shawna arrived the day I took my mom back to the airport!

Grabbed a trip to IKEA while she was here.

------------

Ok, so in the middle of all this, I celebrated a birthday!

I was really excited to get some earrings and a purse from Delicate Fortress Creations.  

This organization helps remove women from poverty and prevent human trafficking.  Win!  And kudos to my wonderful husband who cares about these things and thought to get me such wonderful gifts!

-----------

It was a wonderful couple of weeks with lots to do!  Besides company, we managed to book our flights and our guest house reservation.  We are GOING to UGANDA!  :-D

So, the past week has been full of shopping, checking lists, and dreaming about leaving.  I decided to make a paper chain to mark the days left until we leave, and tonight we took off the first link!  

Each link in the chain has a Bible verse on it to read and think upon until we leave.  

Some are about waiting, some are about God's goodness and faithfulness, and some are about His care for the orphan.

I attempted it to be the Ugandan flag colors, red, yellow, black, but it is old construction paper and kind of looks faded.  Oh well!  I like it anyway.

Well, there is much to do in the next couple of weeks.  Look at my growing pile of things to take to Uganda:

Dragged out all the suitcases we have as well to see what will work.

Yikes!  Pardon my disorganization!

Nursery Pics!

I finally have Baby Boy's room basically done!  Here are some pics of the room as it is:

His crib and dresser.  

I have a cute tree decal on the wall.  I hung letters from the tree with ribbon and spelled out his name.  (Sorry, I have the name blocked out for now until we pass court in Uganda.)

We also have the glider in the corner, so be able to rock our little one to sleep.

We have very neutral greens and yellow (Is there a girl in our future too?)




Mirrored closet doors

 

A few books and toys for him.




Artwork in the room

This picture I won in an auction for A Child's Voice, an organization providing child welfare in Uganda.  This canvas was created by Brooke Gibson, who has an etsy store with really great stuff.  Thank you Brooke!

This is a picture which holds three wood-carved giraffes that we bought in South Africa last year.  I believe it is made locally by the Xhosa tribe.

This is a watercolor painting that my grandma did of a little black child with an adult of another race at a pumpkin patch.  My grandma passed away last spring, but she was excited about our plans to adopt.

 

 So, there you have it!  I hope Baby Boy will like his room.  I sure love it!  Here's a quick before and after:

Getting Ready to Go

Things are moving along!

We are getting ready to book our flights... so exciting!

Yesterday we had doctor's appointments.  We got prescriptions for anti-malaria medication, and scheduled shots and blood to to be drawn.  Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Flu Shot....

Yes, we are preparing to go to Uganda... three band-aids and a blue bandage prove it!

Last night we checked the mail, and we got our updated immigration approval back!!  We had to update our fingerprints on file in December, and now we don't have to update them again until 2014!

Yeah for progress!

The BIG NEWS of the NEW YEAR!

WE HAVE A....

 COURT DATE!!!!!!!!!!

We found out yesterday that we are going to be seeing our sweet boy's face in FEBRUARY!!!!!!!

We are super excited to announce the news because it seems like the biggest news we've had in our adoption journey so far.  This is closer than we've ever been to bringing home our little one!

Our little Baby Boy is soon to meet his family.  And that makes me smile!

The many years of waiting, the piles and piles of paperwork, the long-looked-at pictures of him, and we are finally on the way to a family of three!

Thank you all for reading about our long journey so far and for your prayers and support.

Our next couple of weeks are going to be busy ones, so please keep us in your prayers.

Just wanted to share the GOOD NEWS!

Celebrating with Chocolate Lava Cake!