A shot in the arm, and one in the pocketbook

Last night Jeremy and I got the first installment of our shots. We have two more trips to make to the travel clinic before we are through. Last night we had three shots each. Next time, we will get two and the last trip will just be for dukoral... thankfully a drink not a shot. We still have to decide if we are going to travel outside of Addis, if we do, we need to take malarial prevention [sigh]. All in all these immunizations cost a whopping $1000. Yikes. We are still hoping our extended medical will cover most of it. The bathroom reno is slowly crawling forward. Toilet and bath are both functional. The drywall is partially up. We are hoping to have tile on the shower over the long weekend! Yeah for showers! Then we just have to frame in the closet, finish the drywall, mud the drywall, prime and paint, install the sink, tile the floor, put the door back up, and put up and paint the trim. Unfortunately, the only time we have to work on it is between the kids going to bed and our tenant going to bed (The bathroom is located right over her bedroom so we are trying to be respectful and not work too early or too late). Speaking of work, it looks like I am going to be looking for a job. With the bathroom reno costs and the unexpected sewer problems we had earlier this year, coupled with the remaining adoption costs, we are unable to keep ahead of the game on one income. So, Ryan is going to school, Paul is going to preschool and Mommy is heading back to work. I have just begun the process of looking but I'll keep you updated. It's heart breaking for me, to think about leaving the boys all day, but I am trying to keep a positive attitude about it. Not very many people are as lucky as I am to be able to be home with the children as long as I have. It's also not forever. Short term pain for long term gain right? Hopefully when the adoption is complete, both Jeremy and I will be able to take some parental leave, and we will all be able to be together while we learn how to be a family of 5 together.

Ryan is 5!

Its hard to believe but it is true. My oldest baby is FIVE years old today. He is going to kindergarten in a couple of weeks. I know it is cliche but time really does fly. We have probably hit the 1/4 mark for the time that we will have that sweet boy in our home [trying not to cry now]. We have a tradition in our family, when the birthday kid wakes up, they crawl into bed with us and we tell them the story of the day they were born. This morning I was thinking about our baby girl... and what we will have to do to modify that tradition for her. We are coming up on the one year mark since our paperwork was recieved in Addis... September 1st. I called the adoption agency this morning to find out if there has been any movement on our file. There are still a couple of outstanding placements to make for families from July... sigh. She said it could be any day now, or it could take another couple of months. In other news, we ripped apart our bathroom. Yup its gutted... completely and utterly. We have finished re plumbing all the fixtures. The toilet is back in (huge relief). The bathtub is installed but not tiled (no showers) and the sink still remains elusive. This whole process was a MUCH bigger undertaking than either of us thought. We thought we would be a couple of days without the bathroom and everything would be back to normal. HA HA HA. My mom has been gracious enough to let us stay with her for the last TWO WEEKS (thanks mom) Not only has it been a more intensive project than we originally anticipated, it has been much MUCH more expensive... and then there was the flooding incident... which we are still too close to to laugh about. Ask us in a couple of weeks about the river we created flowing down our tenants bedroom walls... Anyway, I think this process has just sealed the deal for me having to look for full time work. With any luck, I will find a job and work until the baby arrives. Then perhaps we can all take some time off together as a family and just BE. Until then, it will be a fine balancing act. Be patient with us. Soon we will emerge from the bathroom victorious and I will have more time to post blog updates!