Houston........We have lift off!!!

Amy, eldest sister of the Flaherty girl trio, here. I will be updating here as often as possible and hope to have updates from Beth and Kate from Ethiopia.

The first phase of their travel has officially begun! They left for Logan Int'l Airport at 4:00 a.m EST thanks to our dear Uncle Hank! Their first flight was to Dulles and left at 6:00 a.m., they left Dulles at 9:30 bound for Rome (refueling) and then on to Ethiopia.

They are due to arrive in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia tomorrow morning around 8:30 a.m.

Until next time.....

My Bags Are Packed, I'm Ready To Go

Unlike the song I'm not standing there outside my door, but only because it's too early to leave for the airport but if I could I would. I got everything packed, including my backpack and each bag is under the 50 pound allowance as instructed. So this will be my final post without Grace in my arms. If I can send e-mails from Ethiopia I will and my sister Amy will post while I'm gone. I'll be back in 9 days with my Punkin Grace!

Never A Dull Moment!

In less than 48 hours I will be on a plane heading to Ethiopia and in less than 72 hours I will be meeting Grace for the first time. If I were capable of doing a cart wheel I would do one. I'm not packed and I should be panicked about that but I'm not. I have a million things to do and I should be worried about how I'll get it all done and I'm not. What I am is joyful and grateful and blessed. And hopefully that will carry me through to get done what needs to get done.

There's been a slight change in my travel partners. My step-mom Judi and my sister Kate were supposed to travel with me but just Kate is coming now. My dad had a minor stroke on Sunday and while it looks like he'll be OK, we just can't have Judi leave him now. Luckily, Judi caught the signs so quickly and got him to the hospital so fast that they were able to administer him medication to stop the stroke. She saved his life. His speech is fine, he's walking around and complaining about the food so all in all, he's doing well considering. We'll be sad not to have Judi with us but we all feel much better knowing Dad will be in great care with her here.

I got word yesterday that we will definitely have a birth family visit so I'm really thankful for that. I am not sure which relative we will meet with but I'm just so happy to have the chance to meet any of her family members. We'll travel down to the Sidamo Region on Tuesday, have the meeting and stay over night and then return to Addis on Wednesday.

Well, that's about it for now but any good thoughts you could send out for clear travel on Friday morning would be appreciated. We don't have a lot of leeway for weather hold ups coming out of Boston so here's hoping that the weather will be good.

One Week From Today

I will be on a plane to Ethiopia one week from today. Not a year, not a month but a week. After all this wait it's finally come down to just a week. And what a week it will be. I'm not ready as far as being packed. Grace is packed. I have most of the things I'll take set aside but I don't think the packing will happen until Sunday or Monday. The donations are on the floor in Grace's room but haven't made their way inside the Rubbermaid buckets and oddly, I'm OK with that. I'm not freaking out about it because at this point, I know it will happen even if I don't know when.

I have had a very wide range of emotions this week. From complete calm to nervous energy to sobbing on the way to work on Wednesday. And the sobbing wasn't because anything was wrong or because I was upset. First it was because I heard a song on the radio that reminded me of my mother. Then it was seeing someones Christmas lights up and thinking how it will be the first time Grace sees it. Then it was seeing a mother get on the bus with her baby. And while I'm probably not going to get on a bus anytime soon with Grace, just knowing that she'll be here and that someone else will be looking at us and seeing our family is amazing to me. And if one more person tells me I'm so lucky that I didn't have pregnancy hormones I think I might whack em' with a racket. These adoption hormones are making me on the east side of whack-A-doodle. Seriously, my emotions could not be more roller coaster like. But it's all worth it.

I have a couple more things to do around the house. I need to get out the baby monitor and I need to set up her highchair. And I need to get her baby seat and hat and mittens and things together for my brother-in-law to take to the airport when they come to pick us up.

I'm having a work shower on Tuesday, I'm really looking forward to it and they're all so excited to do this for Grace. I can not imagine another child who could be more loved and anticipated than my Gracie.

I finished the family albums and I wrote my letter to her birth family. Probably the second hardest thing I will ever do, with the hardest being meeting her family. And I don't mean hard in an I don't want to do it kind of way. I am really looking forward to the meeting and while I believe they feel they made the right choice, it doesn't mean that they rejoice in it. It doesn't mean that it isn't devastating for them. But in the end, I wrote the things that I would want to hear if I were in their place and I'm happy with the final version.

While I am gone my sister Amy will be posting for me. I'm not sure how much Internet access I will have as it's dial up and not terribly reliable but we'll have an international cell phone to make quick calls back home so hopefully she'll have a few tidbits to post. And once we're in the air on our way back home I have given her permission to finally post Grace's picture and full name. My agency suggests that we wait until we're home to post that but I figure on the plane and close to touching down is OK too. So stay tuned for that. I know it's been a long wait but trust me, it's worth it. She's stunning and I would say that even if I weren't her mother!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow, there is a lot to do when you have only two weeks to get your life and job in order, pack, have a work shower and celebrate a holiday. Let's just say I've been busy the past couple of days.

Yesterday I did some very mommyish things. I added Grace to my insurance and I made doctor appointments, and I packed her suitcase. I suddenly felt very official. And today I went and did a million errands to pick up the last minute things I need for the trip. I'm also working on her birth family albums. She has a couple of living relatives and I am making an album for each of them. I have been so lucky to receive pictures from traveling families and I have about 45 pictures of Grace alone. I also included pictures of her room, our church, the pre-school she will attend and some of our family. The task I am supposed to be performing now is to write a letter to her birth family. Seriously, I don't even know where to begin. I also need to come up with a list of questions for the birth family visit but that seems less daunting to me.

I received updated pictures of Grace yesterday taken by the WHFC social worker who was in Ethiopia a few weeks ago. My case manager called to warn me that in some of the pictures she had her feeding tube in. I was prepared to see a very sickly baby but aside from the tube up her nose, there was nothing sickly about her. She's even blowing a raspberry in one of them. I'm just excited to get her home and to get her checked out so I know how to best help her.

Next Wednesday I have a two hour travel call with my agency to go over stuff we need to know. I'm really looking forward to that. Should be filled with information that will make my head spin.

All in all, I'm faring pretty well but there is still two weeks to go and plenty of time for me to turn into a stress ball. So wish me luck and as little stress as possible.

So Excited!!

Do you know what I did tonight after I e-mailed and talked with friends and family? I packed a suitcase. For my daughter. I folded her little clothes, packed her bottles, her formula, her little socks, towels. Her cousins helped me roll up her diapers to make more room in her suitcase. I'm preparing to bring my daughter home. After six years of planning and almost two years of waiting she is coming home. It's for real. No one can change their mind. It's really, really happening. My baby girl is coming home.

I bought our tickets today. We leave November 27th at 6:00a.m. and we return on Saturday, December 5th, Grace's 8 month Birthday. We come in on United from Dulles and we arrive in Boston at 2:15p.m. Anyone who would like to come to the airport is welcome.

My sister Kate, my step-mom Judi and I are so excited. In three weeks I'll be home with my punkin baby. This is what it must feel like to have all of your prayers answered.

Give Me A Ticket For An Aeroplane!!!

Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I leave on Friday, November 27Th. Two weeks from tomorrow! I am finally going to hold my baby girl in my arms. We return on December 5Th which is the day she turns 8months old. THE very, very BEST Thanksgiving gift I will ever receive.