Happy 3rd Anniversary!

Mark and I will celebrate our third wedding anniversary on Wednesday, March 31. Happy Anniversary, Mark My Luv! Who knew three years ago that we would be preparing to go to Africa to meet our beautiful son?? Life is full of wonderful surprises, isn't it? We said that we hoped we would be able to travel throughout our lives and now we find ourselves ready to embark on our biggest adventure yet: parenthood. There's no one else I'd rather be on the journey with than you.

I love you and look forward to the incredible and challenging adventures ahead of us!


from our honeymoon in Florence, Italy, April 2007

Black Tie Dinner

For the fourth year now, Mark and I have been able to attend the Black Tie Dinner. It is a wonderful event sponsored by the Hospitality and Tourism Management students in the College of Consumer and Family Sciences at Purdue. The students plan the menu, the decorations, the wine pairings, the speaker -- and it's all done with impeccable service by the students who are studying to work in the hospitality industry. The food is presented in unique and creative ways and it always includes something I've never tried before. And Mark, being the foodie that he is, loves to analyze the flavors and combinations. It was a really fun evening!




This shows my favorite course -- the soup course. It was a butternut squash soup with two kinds of salsa on the spoon. You put the spoon in and swirled it around to add the rich salsa flavors. It was outstanding and by far my favorite course of the meal.



The speaker this year was Gale Gand of the Food Network and I think she's one of the owners of Tru in Chicago -- a very famous restaurant. Probably the best speaker I've heard at this event in terms of her message and passion for what she does. She really encouraged the students to follow their hearts and their passion for the hospitality and service industry. It was clear that she loves, loves, loves her work and sees it as a calling. Everyone received a copy of her Brunch book and we got our copy signed by her.



Another favorite part of the evening is spending some time with my co-workers outside of the office. It's always fun to get dressed up and enjoy an evening out! Here I am with Denise and Christina. Don't we look like good?? : ) Always a fun time with these two!

Next year, we'll need to get a babysitter in order to enjoy this event! It was a fun date night for Mark and I and we really enjoy supporting the outstanding HTM students who make this all possible.

Simon is 18 months and a Surprise Shower!

Our Simon is 18 months old today! We received some new photos on Monday and he is changing and growing before our eyes. Our friends the Wislers returned from Ethiopia with their son last weekend and were kind enough to visit Simon and take him a care package. His little cheeks are getting chubbier and his hair is cut very short right now. They said that he isn't shy and was playful. We cannot wait to meet him!!! I've always wondered what people meant when they say that their arms ache to hold someone ... I think that I know what they mean now. But it won't be long now!

Tonight, after regular work hours, I had our monthly student Ambassador meeting. Guess what? They surprised me with a shower for Simon! They had a cake and presents and then each student shared a few thoughts about what they appreciated about how their parents had raised them. They are so thoughtful!! I wrote down everything that they said so I could share it with Mark. Each of the students is such a wonderful person -- unique, caring, creative, hard-working -- I would love for Simon to grow up to be as kind and thoughtful as each of the students that I am privileged to work with. Thank you, Teresa, Sara and the CFS Ambassadors! You are AWESOME!!

Last weekend I started doing Simon's laundry, getting everything freshened up for him. It was so much fun to do tiny little laundry! And you can get a lot in one load. I don't even mind folding little clothing. I'll keep working on it this weekend and then we'll probably pack his clothing. We've already started packing a few other things as well. We're still hoping to travel at the end of April.

This weekend, we're looking forward to receiving some video of Simon, too! The Wislers also took some video for us so that we can see Simon in action -- can't wait! We also have the Black Tie Dinner, put on by the Hospitality and Tourism Management students -- always a fun event. And then meeting our friends the Holadays for lunch on Sunday. There's always something going on around here and we can't wait to add Simon to the fun!

We PASSED COURT!!!

Simon is officially an Ailor and we can't wait to meet him!!

We hope to travel in late April or early May.

The fun part is ... another family from Indiana is visiting Simon today while they are in Ethiopia to bring home their son.

Hooray!!!! I wish I could describe how much joy and peace I'm feeling. Mark is close to hyperventilating because he can't believe he has a son. We are so, So, SO excited!!!

Thank you to all for your support, thoughts and prayers!

Thinking ahead to our Court Date

I think it's safe to say that our thoughts have been dominated by our upcoming court date on Wednesday. In fact, as I'm typing this, Mark is downstairs making injera. We're having Ethiopian food for dinner on Tuesday night. Ethiopia is 8 hours ahead of us in Indiana so by the time we're waking up on Wednesday morning, our case will already have been heard in the Ethiopian court. We will likely receive a phone call from our social worker sometime on Wednesday once she has received the news. We're guardedly optimistic that we will pass the first time, however, many others with our agency have been going through court two, three, even four times. We're choosing to remain hopeful that we will be successful the first time.

One of our agency's staff members will represent us in court. There are many things that need to come together for us to be successful on Wednesday: The Ministry of Women's Affairs (MOWA) must submit a letter supporting our case to adopt Simon, all of the many necessary documents must be submitted correctly with no errors in translation, people with connections to our case must be present in court and have their proper identification, and, silly as it may sound, the electricity needs to be on. We covet your prayers, good thoughts and well-wishes that all of these things come together for a successful court date.

When we do pass court, our agency's staff will begin working to get Simon's birth certificate and then his passport. Once they have those two items in hand, our agency's staff will apply for an appointment with the US Embassy in Addis Ababa. These things take about one month and then we should receive our travel call to be in Ethiopia around 6 weeks after passing court. Our agency is assigned every other Tuesday for Embassy appointments so the best case scenario, if we pass court this week, would have us in Ethiopia the last week of April.

This past Saturday, we attended an event at the Indianapolis Grace Ethiopian Church. They invited a speaker to talk about Ethiopian culture and then there was a time of fellowship. We enjoyed visiting with Dan, Jana and Xander and then we were also able to meet two other families with our agency who could be potential travel partners! It's so fun to make these connections and we are grateful to IGEC for offering these programs for adoptive families.

And later this week, on Thursday, we have another unique opportunity. The head of our agency's Ethiopia program will be in Indianapolis to speak during their annual Ethiopia Insight session. Given the pending changes that could require families to travel to Ethiopia twice as part of their adoption process, I think that this is going to be a very interesting session! She recently spent 3 weeks in Addis Ababa and I'm really excited to hear what she has to share.

So yes, it's a very Ethiopian kind of week! Thank you again for keeping Mark, Simon and me in your thoughts and prayers. We are really looking forward to becoming a family of three and hoping that a successful court date on Wednesday will bring us one step closer to our dream coming true. We can't thank you enough for your continued support and prayers.

Going with the Flow

If you follow any of the intercountry adoption news, you may have heard rumors about changes in the Ethiopia program. We learned today that Ethiopia is indeed changing the process and will begin requiring families to travel to Ethiopia twice. At this point, we do not think that this is going to effect us since we already have a scheduled court date. The change is good on a number of levels -- it means that Ethiopia is committed to ethical, truthful, legal adoptions and is taking steps to insure that. The change is that they want adoptive parents to meet their child/children and be present for the court date. Adoptive parents would travel to Ethiopia for about 5-7 days for the court date, return to their home, and then return to Ethiopia several weeks later to bring home their child/children. For those who will be impacted without much notice, it could make things very challenging financially. We should know more tomorrow and in the coming days but so far, all indications are that our court date should happen as planned next week. Thus the title of my post ... going with the flow. We have known all along that intercountry adoption can be unpredictable. This is one of the moments that is proving this to be true! Thank you for your good thoughts and prayers for us to pass court the first time around next Wednesday, March 17.

Now, on a lighter note ... we have had a blank space above our living room couch for a long time. We just weren't sure what to do with the space. Well, for Christmas this year, Mark ordered a banana leaf art calendar for me from Ethiopia. I love banana leaf art! The style and the natural look of it really draws me in. So we had the idea to take the calendar apart and frame some of our favorite pictures. Here are the results:



I also love it because it brings some of Simon's culture and heritage into our home. This banana leaf art is from the town of Jima or Jimma which is in the same region where Simon is from. We have two other framed pieces in the house too. (Told you I love it!)



And on an even lighter note ... Mark put together Simon's Radio Flyer tricycle this week! It didn't take too long to put it together.



Isn't it cute?! I love the bell! I can't wait to see Simon riding it down the driveway this summer.



And of course, the big kid in the house had to give it a spin. In case you ever wondered why I titled the blog "The Antics of Ailors" -- here is proof of our, I mean Mark's, antics. It really flies on the dining room and kitchen floors! (Thank you again, Renee, Dave, Rachel and Sam!)



So that's the latest from here. We're trying hard to set aside our anxiety about the changes and our court date. Please keep our friends the Mroczek's in your thoughts and prayers, too. They are waiting for their court date and should have news any day now. Both of our families are really ready to meet our children!

COURT DATE!

We got awesome news today ... our court date March 17! Hopefully, we will pass court on the first attempt and Simon will become our son, legally speaking. After we pass court, we will travel 4-6 weeks later to bring him home.

Thank you for keeping us all in your thoughts and prayers!

An update on Simon!

We got an update on Simon today! It came with 10 new photos and he looks happy and healthy. We are so thankful! He's had a haircut since our last update and he looks so cute. He's gained about half a pound and continues to be very smiley. This update could not have come on a better day ... we knew that others with the same referral day as us had been receiving updates and we were feeling down that we hadn't gotten ours yet. Yesterday after work, I hit a wall and let myself have a good cry.

And then today around lunch time, we finally received our update! Probably the biggest change since our last update is that Simon has started running -- uh-oh! We could be in trouble!

Here are some of my favorite things from this report:

*a very peaceful and quiet child
*does not get upset easily and only when something he likes to have is forbidden from containing; when he gets upset he drops on the floor and cries but can be soothed easily by hugging him and telling him that it's ok
*has become more active and playful

We've also noticed in the photos that he seems to be left-handed. His two little teeth are showing more, too.

Hooray for updates! Now, come on court date! We're ready to know our son in person!

A Shower for Simon!

On Saturday afternoon, two of my dear friends from Purdue hosted a shower for me to help us welcome Simon to our family! Chris and Christina outdid themselves! It was so much fun to be able to celebrate Simon with many of you who already love him. I feel like we now have what we need to bathe him, dress him, play with him, feed him and put him to bed. The car seat will come later this month and we're good to go!




Christina and Chris know me well ... they hung these adorable clothes to decorate and had many of our Ethiopia items placed around the house. Simon will be one very well-dressed, stylin' little boy!




Check out the cookies! Christina found an Africa-shaped cookie cutter -- adorable AND delicious! And did I mention there was a chocolate fountain? Yummmmm! Like I said, they know me well!



And these beautiful flowers are from my friend Angie in Arizona. Obviously, she couldn't make it to the shower but she was there in spirit! A funny story about the flowers ... I had just finished shoveling snow and was still in my pajamas with white socks and brown shoes on. My hair was all frizzy from the dampness outside and I wasn't wearing any make-up. I went into the house to get some papertowels and when I came back outside the flower delivery guy was there in the drive-way. He asked if I was Wendi and then placed the bouquet in my arms like I'd just won the Miss America pageant -- and I was soooo far from looking/feeling like a beauty queen! Priceles. I'm not sure I had even brushed my teeth that morning. Oh well! It was an incredibly fun day and I feel so blessed by everyone's generosity and kindness. Thank you to all who spent the afternoon with me and a special thank you shout-out to Christina and Chris! You two know how to throw a party.