The Niemitz Adventures in Adopting

A year ago!!!

2011-10-11T10:23:00.000-05:00

A year ago today we walked into the Care Center in Ethiopia to meet Cameron Abadi for the first time!! What an emotional and life changing event we will never forget:) Our son clearly was not as happy to see us as we were to meet him ;)

WAITLIST!!!!

2011-08-24T13:18:00.000-05:00

We are back on the waitlist for Niemitz Number 2!!!!
This time around will be a lot longer wait but we are ready with our patience shoes on;)
Good thing we have this fabulous little guy to keep us busy in the mean time!!!

Referralversary

2011-06-30T12:09:00.003-05:00

We were out of town this past weekend, but this past Saturday was our referralversary!!! I can't believe it has been a year since we saw our son's precious face! June 25, 2010 our lives were changed forever.
The 1st pic we saw of him:) WOW has he changed!!!!

Some Favorites

2011-04-05T19:54:00.007-05:00

I haven't posted in forever,so i thought I'd load some pics from the past few months. I can't believe how much Cam has grown!!!!!! It's hard to believe he has only been home with us for a little over 4 months. He is nothing but pure JOY:)

Some Xmas in MA Pics

2011-01-13T14:21:00.007-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2010-11-25T11:15:00.004-06:00

WOW It's been a month since I posted!!! OOPS:)
HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL...We have so much to be THANKFUL for this year...especially Cameron's birth family and our adoption agency for allowing us to enjoy this holiday season as a family of 3!!!!!!
I promise to try to post about our trips soon....this Mama has been super busy!!!!
Here are some pics to hold you all over!!!!

He's All Ours!!!

2010-10-25T10:17:00.001-05:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

INTRODUCING!!!!!!

2010-10-19T17:05:00.003-05:00

Cameron Abadi Niemitz

WE'RE OFF......

2010-10-09T07:40:00.002-05:00

I can't believe the time has finally come to board that plane!!!!!
We'll be squeezing you oh so soon Cam!!!! In less than 72hrs...but who's counting;)

1 Week from today

2010-09-23T12:37:00.002-05:00

1 week from today a decision will be made by the Ministry of Women's Affairs in Ethiopia (MOWA) with a favorable or unfavorable recommendation to proceed with our adoption. Of course we feel there is no reason why we wouldn't get a favorable decision, but we also realize that a lot will happen on this day. C's birth father must make it to court to relinquish his rights and confirm that he would like his son to be adopted. I can not imagine what an emotional day this will be for him. He will definitely be in our thoughts 1 week from today.

1 week from today we will find out if we can prepare to fly out on the 9th to meet our son.
1 week from today I will be a complete wreck waiting for my phone to ring with the news!

Our fingers will be crossed!!!!!!!

And.....

a little over two weeks from now, We will hopefully be holding our son for the first time and looking into these gorgeous eyes;)

Update

2010-08-05T15:11:00.003-05:00

We received a wonderful update from Gladney yesterday on our baby boy!!!!

"A" is one delightful little guy. He’s so easy-going and seems to be really observant, too. He rests so easily in the caregivers’ arms and lies contently on the floor as he plays with toys and chews on his fingers. But don’t let his easy-going manner fool you. He’s a hard worker, too. Joan Surfus, a recent Gladney volunteer, who is a pediatric occupational therapist, called "A" her “rockstar” and said that he is her example for where children his age should be developmentally. So, though "A's" laid back, he seems to be a driven little guy, too! "A’s" also observant and is concerned with what’s happening around him. Today, when one of his roommates starting crying next to him, "A", craned his neck around to see what was wrong with him. He seemed to have genuine concern in his face as he stared at his friend in distress. So, not only is "A" easy-going and hard-working, he’s also concerned for those in need. He’s the complete package!"

Our little 'Rockstar' is going to fit in perfectly with our family!!!!
We can't wait to get you home baby boy:)

Happy Half

2010-07-29T11:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Half Bday to our Precious Baby C!!!! It hurts to know that we have missed out on your first 6months, but WE WILL be there soon!!!!

Love Mommy

COURT DATES!!!

2010-07-14T13:32:00.003-05:00

What a pleasant surprise!!!! Kristin just called with our court dates.
The first one is Sept. 30th, this is the one we do not need to be present for. But everything pretty much depends on this date!!!! MOWA is in control here:)
Our court date if all goes well on the 30th is Oct. 12th!!!!!
This means we will travel to meet Baby C from the 10-17th!!!!!!!
We are so excited, and definitely did not expect to hear about court dates so soon!!!!!!

The Call

2010-06-25T23:04:00.002-05:00

Let me start out by saying that I am completely drained right now, from the emotions of today and the heat and humidity here. IT IS GROSS! So if this turns into a whole bunch of rambling....Sorry.

I had pretty much written today off after 2pm rolled around, and my phone didn't ring. Although on Thursday night I was pretty hopeful, and even told Carl that it would be great if we got our "call" tomorrow, especially since he was in an awful training all week, he would have a great reason to have to leave in the middle of it!

So I watch a little boy T-Frank four days a week, and yes Fridays is one of them. I pick him up from Camp around 3, and I park my car and walk to get him (because i refuse to sit in the car pool line)! So I arrive a little early, and I start playing on my phone in the blistering heat and humidity to pass the time. (Literally sweat was dripping down my back). As 3:05 hit I opened the door to get out and my phone starts ringing!!!!!! I froze....I saw the number and my mind went completely mush. I answer the phone, and say Hello. Kristin says "Hi Brenda, its Kristin from Gladney". Believe me, She did not need to remind me who she was or where she was from!!!! ;) She told me our referral was ready and I just broke into tears. Standing on the street with my car door half open. I asked her if it was a boy or girl and how old (with Carls permission). A huge truck immediately drives by as she is answering my EVER so important questions! ARE YOU KIDDING ME:) I felt like such an idiot, so I apologized for the LOUD truck passing, and asked her to repeat. It's a boy and he's 4 months old!!!! I then had to explain where I was and what I was doing to Kristin. We agreed that I would call her back around 4, once I got a hold of Carl and met him at home. I must have looked like a freaking lunatic as I walked by all the car pool moms with tears flowing down my face and the teenage camp counselors just looked at me like I had ten heads. I quickly told them they were Tears of Joy!!!!!
We called Kristin back and saw our son and learned of his heart wrenching story!!! He is just adorable, with the biggest puppy dog eyes ever. We loved this baby before we ever saw him, but boy, Do I believe in LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT now. The moment still feels surreal, and we are floating on the clouds!

817

2010-06-25T16:53:00.001-05:00

"PHONE IS RINGIN Oh MY GOD"
-Beastie Boys

REFERRAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EIGHT

2010-06-22T11:40:00.003-05:00

8 Months Waiting...and BEYOND ready for the phone to ring!!!!!!!

COME ON "817"

2010-05-21T13:21:00.004-05:00

7MONTHS!!!!!!!!

The 22nd marks seven months since being put on the WAITLIST!!! According to the "FBI" we are in the top 5 for both a girl or a boy :) The suspense is killing me...I just want to hear the words..."It's a girl" or "It's a boy". Hopefully my phone will be ringing SOON! That moment will be everything but "TINY". For those Celtics fans out there...I was also tempted to put up another #7 of Dee Brown's blindfolded dunk....because this adoption process is very similar....Of course with a slam dunk at the end:)

Hoping all those Gladney Families with court coming up soon pass!!!! And those of you waiting for a court date and referrals all get those calls soon!!!!

6 MONTHS!!!!!!

2010-04-21T16:06:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow marks 6 months for us on the waitlist :)
And what better way to celebrate than a picture of the great Bill Russell who wore #6 . It is NBA Playoff time.......GO CELTS!!!!!!

The wait has really been getting to me lately, so we have been trying to stay busy. Carl ran in the Crescent City Classic a few weeks ago and did really well. I was so proud of him, and a bit jealous that I cant run like him. I also had other proud moments there, as I watched an Ethiopian, Tilahun Regassa, win the entire race. He is only 20 years old, so Im sure he has many great years of running ahead of him. An Ethiopian women also came in 2nd place in the womens division. I couldn't have been more proud to soon be connected to that country forever! We also plan on our little one being the youngest Ethiopian to cross the finish line next year.

We have also been busy putting together our nursery furniture. I'll post pics when the room is complete!!!

Wishing everyone the best who has court dates coming up soon!!!

For now.....more waiting, and hoping a referral comes soon.

Mixed Up, Stirred, and Shaken!!!

2010-03-10T15:17:00.004-06:00

I have completely mixed feelings about the news we just received today. The Ethiopian gov't is now requiring parents to travel and be present for the Court date. And then travel again 3-6 wks later to pick up your child(ren) and to attend your Embassy appt. So now we are required to travel twice instead of once. Which means double the cost of travel expenses. Not too happy about that!!! A positive thought is that we will be able to meet our baby a bit sooner than if we were required to pass court before traveling!! Which then brings on another not so pleasant thought....That once we have met our baby in person, we will have to leave him/her there and come back until we get our Embassy appointment and another travel date. All this while trying to finish grad school! We'll make it all work somehow:) Hoping this will help prevent unethical adoptions!!

What are everyone's thoughts on this new policy???

4

2010-02-22T11:26:00.001-06:00

4 month anniversary on the wait list!

2010-02-07T10:49:00.002-06:00

3 MONTHS!!!!!!

2010-01-22T10:54:00.002-06:00

Today marks 3 months on the Wait list!!!!! This last month dragged on, but it appears that referrals may be starting to pick up. A bunch of families also have court dates on Monday, so Best of Luck to them all! Hope you can all travel soon.

In the mean time...I've got to gear up for the Saints game on Sunday...and then the Mardi Gras crazies!!!!

Got Injera?

2010-01-08T13:05:00.010-06:00

December 22nd was our two-month anniversary on the wait list. Carl was able to come home from Afghanistan for Xmas!!!! So while we were visiting our family in Massachusetts we decided to spend a day in Boston and conquer our first Ethiopian restaurant to celebrate! We went to the Addis Red Sea... It was unbelievable! The food was more than delicious. So if anyone is in the Boston area, I highly recommend you try it. Now I just need to figure out how to successfully make Injera, and the fine food to go along with it myself! We meant to take a picture of the food before we touched it but we didn’t remember until it was almost gone, Oops. It was THAT good=)

Now back to Waiting...and mastering Ethiopian cooking!

short & sweet & my favorite #

2009-12-10T16:31:00.004-06:00

We are unofficially # 12 on the unofficial list for a boy!
and about 18 for a girl!

The Wait!

2009-11-13T11:43:00.002-06:00

I admit I am not great at blogging...at all
But I am great at stalking that fabulous "FBI" list.
We are around #14 on the list, requesting either gender, due to the abundance of families requesting a female!
So that leads me to think that the chances of receiving a boy is extremely high!
It is just crazy to think about our number on the "list" and that our child is most likely conceived half way around the world. SOOOOOOO Exciting!

Now the wait continues in all aspects of life....
The wait for this semester of grad school to be OVER

The wait for my husband to come home from Afghanistan!

And the wait for that life changing phone call with our referral!!!!

PREGNANT ON PAPER!!!!!!

2009-10-22T16:52:00.002-05:00

WAITLIST!!!!!!
We are officially on the waitlist as of today.
Average wait is 8 months for a child 0-12months
We are requesting either gender 0-6months!

Let the clock start ticking:)

PROGRESS!!!!!!

2009-10-02T11:12:00.003-05:00

WE ARE GLADNEY APPROVED =)

Just received an email from Gladney letting us know that we have been approved! Now we are just waiting on approval from Immigration, and we will be on the Official Waitlist!!

Soooooooooo Close

Tear Jerker

2009-08-29T13:43:00.004-05:00

A Must See Video of a family meeting and picking up their daughter!

Home Away from Home

2009-07-30T15:26:00.002-05:00

These are two signs I will be happy not to see for a long time! They have been my home away from home this past month. We are very much looking forward to our vacation to our real home town next week to visit with all our friends and family.

So close yet so far away...

2009-07-28T17:07:00.002-05:00

Getting closer to the infamous WAITLIST!
We are just waiting to complete our homestudy, then we can send all our paperwork off to get authenticated. Wait for the arrival of CIS approval, and we can be put on the waitlist!
Then the balls in someone elses court!

Well Wishes

2009-07-23T12:53:00.004-05:00

Just wanted to wish all the families who have a court date tomorrow all the best! I know there is an entire crew of you out there, so Im keeping my fingers crossed for you all!!!

"I felt that the lights were turned on; like you know in The Wizard of Oz it's black and white and you don't realize it's black and white in the beginning and she lands in Oz and all of a sudden it's color? That's what happened to me, when he was in my arms. I really felt as though my life began from that moment." Rosie O'Donnell

Quote of the day

2009-07-17T08:42:00.003-05:00

I was reading through this book on adoption that just has the most brilliant quotes: SO I have decided that I will post a quote from the book, every time I post. I will start a 'quote of the day'

"I don't believe that anyone who's been touched by adoption can find the words that fully describe it. How could one describe such marvel of humanity, such an improbable, incredible, complete miracle?
It's not that there's ambivalence. No its all good. Its always about love and always about a child.
Its more that adoption is so enormous and so amazing that it is almost incomprehensible. We may just be too small to talk about something so big.
And adoption does have its paradoxes, its ironies, its counter-intuitive, crazy logic: It can involve serpentine bureaucracies, but it brings about a perfect and sacred exchange. It is a promise, a vow, a contract even, but governed by love. It is a complete connection, often between very distant points. It transcends everything yet couldn't be more earthbound. It changes your life but starts with a phone call. It feels divine, but every participant is exceedingly human. It is profound but hilarious. Ridiculous, sublime."

The whole Shabang!

2009-07-15T16:13:00.004-05:00

Many have asked about the whole process, so I'll do my best to explain. First you choose an adoption agency, and what country you would like to adopt from. You then request preliminary information after submitting a questionnaire. You then need to schedule a phone orientation. Once you have done the phone orientation, you can formally request the adoption application by submitting yet another form. Once you receive your application, which consists of everything under the sun, you are on a mad scramble to get everything completed. The dossier can also be started on at this time. The application piece goes to the adoption agency, the dossier documents go to the government, and Ethiopia, and need to be original notarized documents. These also all need to be authenticated.....(overwhelmed yet?)
So once the adoption agency receives your completed application, they can schedule your home study. A social worker comes to your home and checks it out and interviews us about... I'd say everything under the sun! She then types out her report. Once we have all our paperwork in and approvals from the agency, FBI, and immigration... And we send everything off to Washington D.C. And they send it to Ethiopia. We can then finally be put on the waitlist:). We then wait..and wait...and wait for a referral!!!!! Once we receive our referral, we then have to wait AGAIN for a court date. Once we pass court in ET, we are then officially and legally the parents!!!!
We then will travel to Ethiopia a few weeks after for about 7 days to pick up our baby!
I think that's everything... Well maybe... It is a lot, and overwhelming, so I'm sure I forgot something.
It will truly all be so worth it in the end;)

Slowly but surely...

2009-07-03T09:31:00.003-05:00

We finally had our phone orientation with Gladney on the 30th. We couldn't be more excited to get moving on all the paperwork. After the phone orientation, and going over the "manual" they give you, we need to officially request the 'real' adoption application. So of course we did that right away! but....the lady we need to send it to has an auto response that she is out of the office until the 7th. So hopefully when she gets back we will get the whole application packet right away! We have our references all notified to be expecting the paper work sometime next week. We have our Dr.'s appointments all scheduled too. We are determined to get all our paperwork done on a fast track, especially since the Mr. is leaving for Afghanistan soon:( For now we will enjoy our anniversary today:) and a great 4th of July weekend.

This weekend is bitter sweet for us, as we celebrate our anniversary, we are also both bummed that we aren't in Mass celebrating at the annual fourth of July parties with our families. It is such a fun filled holiday that our family celebrates and we wish we were there with them. We'll have to settle for a crowded French Quarter and fireworks on the Mississippi.

Very Merry Un-Mothers Day!

2009-05-10T14:31:00.004-05:00

So what better way to celebrate Mother's Day, when you aren't a mother...yet!
We just filled out, completed, and submitted our first piece of official paperwork to start our adoption!! You had to submit a family photo with it...and we all know how much I hate getting my picture taken...so figuring out which picture to send was a Blast:)
Well maybe this time next year, I'll be able to celebrate Mother's Day with a child of my own. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there!

Cause tomorrow's just another day And I don't believe in time

2009-04-16T13:57:00.003-05:00

One more month down...one more to go before we can send our first piece of paperwork. Could time move any slower? It's seems to fly by when you don't want it to.

Slowly Approaching the Starting Line

2009-03-17T13:03:00.004-05:00

I just created this blog, and I couldn't be more excited, anxious, and determined to document as much as I can about thoughts, feelings, updates, and more about our adventures in adopting. We have decided on an agency, and country, and now we are just waiting to start the initial paperwork. We are going to mail our first information sheet in May!!! This should put us right at the starting gate:)
B