OK. It has been a while since I wrote and I am one of those people who check other blogs quite regularly. I am annoyed when they are not updated...Why have a blog if you're not going to write in it?
So, I should apply that to myself and fill you in on what is happening in our house.

We are leaving for Ethiopia on August 18th...August 18!!! It feels totally unreal to be writing that. I can't believe that in a few short weeks we will be climbing into a plane and flying to Africa to pick up two children...Our two children!
We got updated pictures this week, oh they are so beautiful.
Ayana is actually smiling on one of them, a cheeky, fun smile. Her hair is growing back and she looks content and healthy.
Moses is not smiling! He looks a bit perplexed and scared. ("Who is that person and why are they taking pictures of me?") He is holding a bottle now though and also looks really healthy. (I am not allowed to post their pictures until I take custody, so when we get back, there will be pictures)
Today we put all their little clothes away in their dresser and wardrobe...rows of little dresses for Ayana, in an array of colours like a crayola box.
Overalls and shirts, jackets and jeans for Moses...how cute his tiny denim jacket looks hanging there, ready to be put on when cooler weather hits.
My eldest daughter spent a long time pinning little jewel like pieces of shiny plastic around the top of Ayana's net canopy..
My son just stared at them..."why are you doing that?"
"Because it looks pretty, like a princess bed"
"Oh!" He wandered away, unimpressed.
I am in a mad nesting phase...cleaning things out with a vengeance. Today I also cleaned out the office, it took me a few hours in 35 degree heat. I then asked my husband to move the desk out so that I could vacuum behind it. He pulled it out and the whole thing lurched like a ship going down, the drawer broke off and slid out sending the tray full of little, teeny- weeny office supplies rolling all over the floor. I think I said, "oh shoot" or words to that effect!
How soon will the new ones be using the office? Oh, not for a few years...
So, we are slowly getting ready. Other than stair gates, I think we have everything...right down to the foldy up type bibs (thanks for the tip Colleen!)
So, I'm going to go, I'll update more frequently the closer we get to actually going...and of course when we get back, there will be many adventures to share! And pictures, lots of pictures.
(Do I use exclamation points a lot?)