Still waiting....

Ahhh! Still waiting on pins and needles! I couldn't stand the waiting any longer so I called our agency again. They said they still have not received the court results from Addis Ababa and are expecting them at noon Seattle time, which is 3:00pm our time. Oh my... another two hours to wait.

My heart has been full of joy this morning as I know deep in my heart that God is working out what is best for Mekonen, for us, and for His glory. I have such a deep peace about that, no matter what the outcome is. Even still though, I am anxious, nervous, excited, etc, etc, etc.

Hoping Today is the Day!

It is 12:26 a.m. right now in Indy, which means it's 7:26 a.m. (Monday, the 29th) in Ethiopia. We are unsure of the exact time our case will be heard in court today, but we were told the courts probably open and begin moving around 8am. Whoa. In a half hour, our case could be heard and decided! We are anxious, excited, joyful, nervous, ready to celebrate, longing to celebrate. We had 3 of our dear friends here this weekend (Ronaldo, Kelli, and Demetrius). We believe by God's sovereign design they were here the weekend before our court date. We spent some great together tonight gathered around our dining room table praying for court, praying for Mekonen, and praying that God will do whatever brings the greatest glory to him... even if that means we wait for another court date. We were blessed greatly with such godly friends who lifted us and our growing family to the Lord tonight and thank all the family and friends who have sent us encouraging notes, phone calls, and messages that they are thinking of us and praying for us.

So it's already passed midnight and I'm not tired at all. Sleep anyone? We probably will not find out the verdict of our court hearing until noon our time tomorrow.

I'll post as soon as I hear the good news! ;)

4 Days!

Wow! Only 4 days until our court date! Again, nausea hits almost every day (and again, no I'm not pregnant). I couldn't sleep last night because my stomach was full of butterflies. We got a new video of Mekonen the other night and it is simply precious!!! He was practically asleep in his nanny's lap and was drinking his bottle. As soon as the two nannies realized some of our friends were taking video of him they tried waking him up. They were snapping their fingers right in front of his face and waving this really loud rattle at him. He was blinking his eyes like crazy and was very confused. I felt bad for him because he looked so sleepy, but I was so glad because he woke right up and was looking all around, so curiously. They got a super clear, close-up shot of his face and wow, his eyes are so big, and super dark. It doesn't even look like he has pupils. Oh I just looove it. I've watched it about 50 times!

4 Days Until Court and here are 4 things I've been doing to keep busy!

1. Graduate School - I'm in a two week class now (ending tomorrow) and another session

July 6th-15th. Right now my class is on International Education.

2. Baby Carriers- searching for the two baby carriers I decided on: the Beco Baby Carrier and the Peanut Shell. I have been on a daily quest to try and find them used because they aren't

"cheap."

Here I am with my niece Jane in the peanut shell. My sister and I opened it up in Babies R' Us and I carried her all around the store in it to give it a test run. I found out later the fabric is supposed to be a little more spread out across my shoulder. I loved it though and Jane seemed to really like it too!

3. Friends- hanging with my friends in Ohio who are letting me live with them during grad.

school, and then getting to hang with more friends from PA this weekend who are coming to

visit!

Naomi and her girls Ali & Claire who I've been staying with in OH. (Sorry Brian, I couldn't find a pic with you in it too).

Some of our dear friends from PA who are coming to visit this weekend! Ronaldi & Kelli.

4. Lists- I am making a lot of lists!!!

• Things we still need for Mekonen when he comes home.
• Things we need for our trip to Ethiopia
• Packing lists
• Lists of where to find what we need to buy and price comparisons for them (haha, yes, I have a lot of time on my hands during this grad. class).

Who's Waiting for Mekonen?

6 Days until court baby Mekonen! Here are 6 important people who are anxiously waiting for you to come home! We love you! Praying hard you are fully OURS on Monday!

1. Mommy & Daddy- Here is a picture of us the day we got engaged on December 25, 2004!!! Can you tell how happy and excited we are! We fill exactly the same way waiting to bring you home! 2. Grandma and Grandpa Castro- "Grandma Missy and Grandpa Jack" (although Grandma really hates the name Missy. hehe).
3. Uncle Meade, Auntie Amy, and your cousins Manny & Aderyn


4. Uncle Tom, Auntie Rebekah, and your cousins Natalie & Jane


5. Grandma and Grandpa Oren- "Grandma Magz and Grandpa Dig" (although Grandpa hates being called Dig).
6. Uncle Josh and Aunt Meghan, and your cousin Owen

7. Aunt Lindsay, Uncle Jeremy, and Uncle Aaron (sorry Aaron, I didn't have a picture of you on this computer!)

We love you and can't wait until you come home! Hang in there little man. We'll be there soon!

Some Baby Love

Whoa! 8 days until our court date! I am full of so many insane emotions I can hardly sleep! I'm anxious we won't pass the first time, and then all the other emotions are super excited and happy ones that go along with the thought that we do pass! A group of friends from my AAI group just returned this weekend with their babies! We have new pictures and video coming soon! I cannot wait! It brought tears to my eyes reading about them arriving home with their sweet little ones. I cannot wait to be in those shoes! Soon.... very soon.

In the meantime, here's some sweet baby love about Mekonen from my traveling friends. Oh how I have loved these updates while they were there in Ethiopia. They all hugged and snuggled my little guy and told him his mama and daddy are coming soon!

June 15th- Rachael, Mekonen is such a sweetheart. Sean and I got some pictures today and I shot some video. Oh, what a doll. He was a bit cranky from just waking up, but so sweet (from Elizabeth).

June 16th- Mekonen! Rachael, he is so adorable. I came in to see him today and he was fussing in his crib so I picked him up. He just melted into me. What a sweetheart. He has such wide, expressive eyes! I got him smiling and laughing. He has a bit of chest congestion right now and was a little wheezy, but the nurse is aware so don't worry about him. We'll make sure he's okay. I put him back down and he cried, so I picked him up again, walked around and bounced him and he feel asleep! Oh my he's adorable (from Allison).

June 21st- Mekonen is in the room just next door to Eden. He is in with E* and
S*. The nanny in his room was one of my favorites you can see her kissing
on the babies in one of my pictures. He is a tiny boy, I checked his clothing
size and he was wearing 3-6 months and I think he will be in that size for
awhile. He loves to be held and Elizabeth had a tough time putting him down.
He is adorable, really a handsome little man (from Allison).

And here is a little note about Mekonen from back in March. A fellow AAI mom just emailed it to me. I'm so excited to have all these people who have met my baby and can give me little stories about him. I'm putting them all in his lifebook!

I only spent a little time with Mekonen at Wanna when I was visiting Y* in March, but he was such a little snuggler. He really seemed to want to be held and to relax a lot when picked up. I think he maybe had just arrived, and maybe he wasn't really settled in there yet, but I think you have a little guy who will LOVE being held, carried in a sling/ carrier, having baby massage, etc. I really noticed that when I picked up Y*, he immediately scanned the room like 'great, I can finally get a good look around, who's here?', but when I picked up Mekonen, he was really tuned into being held. I'm not sure if that makes any sense! But they struck me as very different personalities. Y* is my first so I am not really speaking from experience, but a lot of what I've read about attachment talks about touch, and Mekonen was very responsive to being touched and held (from Irene).

As we near court, my dreams about him are almost every night! Oh I can't wait to snuggle that boy! I'm off to another week of grad. school. I'm glad I have something to fill the time.

Still clinging to God's goodness...
no matter what.