Ok. While I am waiting to hear about a court date, I wanted to ask all of you adoption bloggers out there who have already gone through this a few questions...
1) What would be the best use of my time while we wait in this stage? I am feeling anxiety and shortness of breath often these days in anticipation of needing to make possible travel plans, but not wanting to get ahead of myself (or able to get ahead of myself) before we even know when we will be going.
2) Speaking of travel, how many of you used a travel agency? Would you recommend it, or did you make travel plans on your own? What happens in case of emergency? A friend who has been to Africa before told me it is much cheaper to fly into Asmara (a few hours north in Eritrea) and then drive into Addis. (??) Not sure it would be worth it, however. Any thoughts?
3) When did you start purchasing your humanitarian aid items?
4) (For those of you with toddler sons at time of placement.....) to circ or not to circ????
Please pray for my anxiety. And please tell me it's normal!! I am trying to arm myself with knowledge by reading the recommended books, and I would like to try and get some things done now before "crunch" time---I'm just not sure where to start. For starters, though, I know I need to get into the Word more to calm my fears. Pray that I make time for that most of all!
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ReplyDeleteEnjoy the things you can while you wait-I knew having a little one in the house again would be different, so I tried to do alot of big kid things with my two older ones.
We used a travel agent, because we had donated air miles and that made travel complicated, but if you like making arrangement, I bet you could do it yourself. I probably would not drive to Addis, unless it was significantly cheaper, I would be worried about crossing the border(but I am a nervous traveler)
I started gathering aid items when we started the paperwork, LOL! Just things on sale here and there, and many people wanted to help, so we had alot of things donated. I just made a box in the garage to keep things in until it was time to pack.
We adopted Malachi and he is 18 months old now(been home a month). We have not decided on circumsision yet, but if we do it, it won't be for awhile, until he had adjusted more. Also, it may be considered elective surgery by your insurance company, therefore not being covered, so that might make a difference.
Praying for you- I know it is hard to wait!!
Brandy
www.thebutlersadoption.blogspot.com
Tanya, I am praying for you and your anxiety. I truly know what that feels like. I will be in contact with you when we get home and can hopefully give you lot's of good information.
ReplyDeleteTanya, it can be a very anxious time. I did everything last minute which sort of stressed me. One bubble we missed was getting shots. If you have not already gotten travel shots and are going to, get them now. By the time we got around to it, there was little point as we were leaving less than a week later. I can wait to hear more about your journey!
ReplyDeletewe are praying for you during this part of your journey
ReplyDeleteTanya....
ReplyDeleteFor sure DO NOT fly into Asmara! That would be a killer drive and the borders between the two countries are pretty hostile and generally not open. NO WAY on that one!!
My husband just used Susan Parr for his tickets. $200 cheaper than anything online. We have never used a travel agency for tickets to Addis before, but found it to be totally worth the $35 fee....
The circ question, our son was 4 yrs old, so we did not do it. Thought that would be waaaaay to traumatic and not help a bit with bonding. :) Not sure if he will ever get it done, we have 2 other bio boys and they have all seen each other and he has never talked about being concerned that he is "different".
ReplyDeletePray about the anxiety> Yes, it is one of the most anxiety-inducing times, but I believe the enemy is all about stealing our joy whenever possible. Your prayers to the One that is in control can really help. Somedays you may have to do it hourly....
: )
ReplyDeleteDo everything that you will not be able to do when you have a new one home.
We would recommend Susan Parr. We ended up using someone else and wished we had used Susan Parr. I don't think I would recommend flying into another country. Ethiopian Air isn't the perfect airline but it does the job. People in our group also used Emirate (which they loved) and another used KLM (which they didn't love or hate).
We were purchasing humanitarian stuff when we started waiting for referral (honestly...maybe even earlier) we did a couple specific AHOPE medical items a couple of weeks before we traveled.
We will be in Utah from the 19th through the 28th. It would be lovely to meet you if we can.
Best Wishes!