Cullen is doing great!

Brooke and Jeff just called and said they now have Cullen full time in their hotel with them! We got to hear him say "dad" on the phone! He was talking up a storm and Brooke said he is now sitting up by himself too! Brooke said he has a nasty cough but is still doing well despite that. They said in their first night with him he woke up twice. They have been giving him some dry cereal and bananas. Today they passed their visa interview so they are just waiting for the paper copy to arrive before they can come home!

HERE HE IS!!!

Just got a call from Brooke and Jeff and they were able to get internet briefly and sent this great photo! They got to spend more time with Cullen today and kept saying how animated he is. They said he loves to mimic people and will clap hands after you clap yours and do raspberries! Brooke and Jeff also commented that he really gets excited when he sees his nannies and they get so excited when they see him! Brooke said he can also say "mom" and "dad!" They said he has beautiful skin and weighs 9.8 kilos (21 lbs)!!!

The Best Christmas Gift!

Brooke and Jeff got to meet Cullen very early this morning! They said he is so happy and only cried once when they had to put him down! They said he is so big and can even do an army crawl! Brooke said that when he would get excited about something he would clap his hands on his legs! They also said that he seems to be very observant (like his big sister!). They both seemed so happy to have spent some cuddle time with their new squeeze!

Safe and Sound!

Brooke and Jeff have arrived safely to their hotel in Addis Ababa! Their hotel is right next door to where Cullen is staying! They will meet their little man at 10am their time (2am Christmas morning on East Coast US time)!

On Their Way!!!

This is Becca (Brooke's sister) and I'll be updating their blog with the text messages and phone calls that Brooke and Jeff send over the next week!

At about 10am we got word that they made it safely through Amsterdam and are now in Sudan for a quick refuel before they finish the last leg of their flight! Only about 2 more hours of travel for them before they arrive in Addis!

What Will We Be Doing?

So I thought I would share a bit of our "itinerary" with everyone so you can have a better idea of what we will be doing when we are in Ethiopia. Keep in mind that ET is approx 7 hours ahead of Eastern Time. Here it is:

• Wed 12/23: Leave for ET in the evening.
• Thurs 12/24: Arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia around 11pm. Check in to hotel which is right next door to care center (literally) where Cullen is. Sleep (I have no idea how i am going to do this with my little boy asleep right next door!!!
• Friday 12/25: Orientation in AM then will meet Cullen right after! Spend day at care center with Cullen and playing with other children
• Saturday 12/26: Spend day at care center with Cullen.
• Sunday 12/27: Leave in the AM for Durame (without Cullen), a town about 5-6 hour drive south of the capitol of Addis Ababa. This is the region where Cullen was born and where he first came into care (Holt has a care center in Duram). We will get to see the region, tour Holts intake/care center in Durame and possibly get to meet Cullen's mom.
• Monday 12/28: Leave in AM to head back to Addis. Hopefully take custody of Cullen when we get back (if not then on Tuesday)
• Tuesday 12/29: Hang out in hotel with Cullen. Appointment at US Embassy in Addis for an interview to get Cullens visa to travel home (he will travel home with an ET passport and a US visa).
• Wednesday 12/30: Fairwell ceremony at care center. Shopping trip to leper hospital, etc.
• Thursday 12/31: Hang out at hotel with Cullen and wait for visa to be issued. Fly home around midnight.
• Friday 1/1: Arrive home in Boston at 4pm!!!!

We are very excited to meet a number of families that will be traveling with us. I have gotten to know a few pretty well over email, yahoo groups, and on the phone so it will be great to share this amazing experience with them.

Can't wait to see you all when we return!!! Just over 48 hours till we leave....YIKES! I need to get some good cuddle time in with my girl the next two days....

Ahhh...the packing!!!

Okay so I typed this up yest but am just gettting it posted today...just goes to show you what I am talking about!!!...

Last night was our last Wednesday night sleeping in this house together as a family of three! Next Wednesday at this time will will be on a plane bound for Amsterdam, to connect on to

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

It really is all a little bittersweet. While I am so excited to finally meet our son and bring him home, I am so sad to be away from Tessa and especially during this holiday time. I wish that it made the least bit of sense for her to come with us. But it doesn't.

So as you all know, we have been busy packing!! Two huge bags of donations for the care center's run by Holt! (Thank you to all who so generously donated clothing, medications, toys, cups, bottles, blankets, etc) And one suitcase a piece for Jeff, Cullen and I! Here is peek at what life has looked like around our house these past days. I feel good...but I still feel like there is so much to do. Today, Jeff and I finished up gathering some paperwork, getting notarizations, etc. So at least that piece feels complete. And then there has been the wrapping! Wrapping, wrapping and more wrapping.... To think we won't even be here for Christmas day!!! Well, here it all is:

Just a little of our packing mess....

Adams Family Christmas gifts...

Drooger family Christmas gifts...

And still I am trying to constantly remind myself of the reason for this time of holiday celebration. The birth of Christ. A baby in a manger sent by his father. The most amazing gift...

Cullen's Room

So I think I have been promising photos of Cullen's room. There are still a few things to complete...but I thought I would share since we finally took some photos. Here it is....

My mom made the wall hanging quilt.

We hired my friend Alicia to design the elephants (which are also used in the quilt) and then paint them in the room.

Now all we need is a little boy asleep in the crib!

Ethiopia Here We Come!!!!!

And so we are finally leaving for Ethiopia!!! On Dec 23rd we will fly out from Boston to arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at around 11pm on Christmas Eve! We will get to meet our son for the first time on Christmas day!! What an amazing gift!!!!

We are so saddened to leave miss Tessa behind. For so many reasons I want to bring her with us (including but not limited to fulfilling the ache in my heart that I will have from being away from her for 10 days). But we know it is in her best interest to stay home with GeeGee and Papa (my parents). Fortunately she is so comfortable with them since my mom watches her during the week as my husband and I both work full time. And she is OBSESSED to say the least with my father. While we are more sad over the fact that we will not be with her for Christmas day, the fact that we are traveling over the holiday's means that my sister (Auntie Becca) will be home and my brother, his wife and Tessa's two cousins (Eli - 6 and Sarah - 4) whom she is again OBSESSSED with will all be here while we are gone. I am actaully starting to wonder if she will notice that we are gone at all!!!

As for us....YIKES! We are so busy packing and preparing. I wish it was just clothes we needed to pack. But we have medications, bottles, baby food, clothes, paperwork, mosquito nets, etc. Then there is packing we will have to do for Tess. Since she will be at my parents house for 10 days, we will need all her clothes, etc. We also have one gift a day for her with a note from mommy and daddy that we are getting ready as well. Then there is Christmas!!!! We wanted to keep this year as "normal" as possible for Tess while we are home, so we have been decorating, trimming the tree, wrapping gifts etc. It is my favorite time of year. And while I enjoy all the hub-ub, I have to admit. I can hardly keep my head on straight.

Will keep you posted over the next week and a half (I promise to try anyway)...but I can't believe how son I will finally be holding our son in my arms. I have cried and ached for way more months than I should have just to listen to him breathe in the monitor at night! And now I am finally going to be able to!!!!!!!

More to do. Back to work....

Thanksgiving

So we definitely had much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Finding out that we passed court and that Cullen was legally or son three days before Thanksgiving was bittersweet!

We celebrated with my family in Washington DC where my sister is in medical school at Georgetown and then on to West Virginia to my brothers house to spend the rest of the weekend relaxing and enjoying time with the family (sadly minus my sister who needed to keep studying).

Here are some of the highlights of our long weekend!

Celebrating passing court with my family eating traditional Ethiopian cuisine.

(Clockwise: Brooke, Jeff, Tessa, Jair, Becca, Jake, and Pam)

Tractor ride in WV with cousins Eli and Sarah

Tessa driving the tractor with Auntie Pam!

I also want to apologize for being MIA these past days since passing court. I can't believe how long it took me to post these photos! We have been super busy shopping, packing, and trying to have as normal of a Christmas season for Tessa as we can as there is a good chance we could be traveling over Christmas to finally bring Cullen home. I will be sure to post as soon as we have official news of our travel dates. But for now, we are still waiting. Our agencies staff in ET is gathering paperwork, getting birth certificates and passports issued, etc. Once this is done we will be formally invited to travel to bring him home!! Hooray! We are hoping for news by tomorrow!!