I have a date!

I have a COURT date! (I'm not talking about a date with a man. But I'm not complaining... I suspect the court date will have a greater significance.) After waiting for almost two months, I finally have a court date for Meke's adoption in Ethiopia -- April 21st. On that date, the adoption agency representative will act on my behalf to adopt her legally in the Ethiopian courts. Hopefully, it will go through the first time. Six weeks after the court date, I travel to pick her up and bring her to her forever home! Four other adoptive parents working with my agency have the same court/travel dates as me... Chris Martel, Dawn, Melissa Mowry (who's adopting Kirubel), and Elena (who is single like me!).

I'm so excited that a date has finally been scheduled. My revised Power of Attorney is now in Ethiopia, so everything is on track. I have lots to do in the meantime to get ready... get more paperwork together, get shots for the trip, prepare her room and my house, and the list goes on. At least the crib is now together though, thanks to my tenacity in locating the assembly instructions without even a model number, and thanks to my friend who bailed me out after I accidentally bent one of the rails. (I wanted so much to assemble it on my own, but darn it, that was difficult to do with only two hands, so I appreciated the help.) So that's one thing done, 99 more things to do before Meke comes home.

In the picture above, Meke is sitting with her friend Rahel, whose new name is Ava and who is also being adopted by someone working with my agency. I see Meke's little personality coming out in all of the pictures I get of her. In this one, she is showing the side of her that's shy but still interested in everything around her.