Sorry, no time for an update, but wanted to show a few pictures

All dressed up and ready for church
He loves vehicles that make noise

Little Miss Sunshine!
Grandma and Joseph
"Studying together"
Let's go Hawks!! And they did go on to beat Penn State this night. YEAH!!

Daddy's home and immediately gets mugged by the kids
How fattening does this look?

Emily blowing raspberries on Joseph's belly and him loving it.
Joseph and Anna study too.
I'm too cool

Kitchen sinks work great for baths.
Luke admiring one of the welcome home Joseph cookies
Anna with her cookie
Forget admiring the cookies, Joseph eats his.
A darling cookie bouquet from Aunt Rita and Maureen

We're all home

We're home and trying to get used to our time zone and when it's time to sleep and when to be awake. Joseph is doing great and has been totally spoiled by his siblings and grandparents. Luke sleeps with him on the lower bunk so he doesn't 'get scared'. Yesterday morning Joseph and Anna had their little learning computers backed up to each other and were just chatting away. It didn't even matter that they were speaking in different languages. He loves to be outside and is eating basically everything we put in front of him.
We are so blessed! I promise I'll write more as soon as we get a better chance to catch our breath.

1 day left

I love this image! To me it shows that we've made it to the light at the end of the tunnel and Joseph will be making it home soon. When becoming a citizen there were a lot of things that I felt signified being an American and living in the US. One of those things was the Statue of Liberty. What a sight for sore eyes she is!

The cases have been stuffed with last minute items and I'm guessing we're with an ounce on each case. We may be paying for extra weight! My work computer is turned off and my desk is dusted. Guess I'll sit around eating bon bons the rest of the day because there's nothing else we can do. YEAH!!!!

It's going to be so hard not seeing the kids for 10 days. We've never been away from the two littles for anywhere near that long and that's one part of the process that I'm not excited about. I guess the sooner we leave the sooner we return to them. Luke was a little teary-eyed last night because he was going to miss us and Anna on the other hand was jumping up and down because her new 'little' brother would be home soon. Different kids, different reactions.

We're driving to Chicago first thing in the morning just in case there are any weird things that pop up. I'd rather sit at Starbuck's drinking coffee than speed down the interstate at 95 miles an hour because we got a flat tire along the way. And yes, in my younger years I was known to drive that fast even though dad was sheriff.......so glad I outgrew that phase and survived it.

From what I've heard I'm not going to be sending blogs from Ethiopia so I'll update you all when we get home. Please pray for Luke and Anna, Mom and Dad (who are taking care of them), Joseph as he transitions home and into the family and for a safe trip. We would appreciate it. We'll return Sunday, September 20th.

We're out of here earning frequent flyer miles!

2 days until we travel

2 days until we travel. How much needs to be written that hasn't already been written? Nothing amazing coming from me tonight. I'm in la-la land. Somewhat numb with anticipation and awe.

I did the unthinkable and went shopping today to pick up a few last minute items; a few more toys and snacks for the flight home from Ethiopia. Also picked up necessary meds (Cipro and Malarone). Cipro is for, if and when, we get travel diarrhea and Malarone we start taking tomorrow for Malaria and we'll continue with it every day until we're home for seven days.

It's going to be hard to sleep tonight!

3 more days until we travel

Excited, who us?? Yes we are and if there wasn't so much work to do before we left we'd be more excited.

Today I basically locked myself in my office and worked. No checking emails, no blogs, no nothing other than me and Mr. Computer. I'm happy to report that work went well and the pile has gotten smaller. I sent necessary files to our accountant to work on profit and loss statements and so the weight lifted at least slightly.

Eric has been working nonstop to get ready for our trip and so he's out visiting stores and checking in with managers. For some reason when we leave the office something crazy that never happens when we're home, and close to a phone, happens when we're gone. The good news is we work with awesome people and they'll take care of things until we return. The bad news is with limited phones and Internet we probably won't find out what went wrong until we get back.

On a funny note......Luke, who is in first grade, came home tonight and said there was a contest in his class today to spell the longest word and he won. He came up with 'conversation'. Kelli and I laughed so hard when he told us his word and almost started to cry. Luke will come up with words like this from out of thin air and ask Eric and I how to spell them. He asked Eric about 'conversation' a couple of weeks ago and wrote it down and then made a necklace using the letters. I guess it stuck with him. I'm also guessing his substitute teacher was pretty impressed. Sorry to brag but I couldn't resist on this one.

4 days until we travel

Only 4 more days until we pop our bags in the car, load up Joseph's car seat, head to Chicago and fly to Ethiopia.

Happy Labor Day everyone. We're heading to one of the local parks for a picnic with the grandparents and friends today. The weather is supposed to be a beautiful 76 degrees so the kids should have a blast as well as the adults.

I'm thinking we may get one more trip to a park in this week before we leave, but otherwise, the next time we head to the park it will be with Luke, Anna and Joseph. The car will be full and Luke will be moving back to the third row seat. That's a rite of passage.

5 dys until we travel

Just 5 more days until we travel and we're celebrating. Tonight as Eric and I were soaking in the hot tub dreaming about what's going to happen with our family's lives in the very near future, Eric said he's never felt so many emotions at once in his life. He then reeled off a long list of different emotions. I said I have only two right now-joy and fear. I'm joyful because we've been so fortunate with our adoption process and fear of the unknown. I firmly believe that everything will work out so I guess I'll dwell on joy.

Great day/Bad news

Eric and I were able to attend my friend Bonnie's wedding today and had a wonderful time enjoying the wedding and the beautiful weather.

After the wedding we drove to see Ryan and Emily's new duplex. It's huge and very, very cute. Emily did a great job of painting and they've both got the place whipped into shape in a short period of time. All that while starting new jobs and Ryan starting school.

We've been in contact with a gentleman in Ethiopia who will be putting together a DVD of Joseph's hometown, special places within that town, his orphanage, and our first meeting with Joseph. We see this as a once in a lifetime opportunity to capture some very special moments. This will also allow us to concentrate on Joseph.

The bad news for the day is that our searcher in Guatemala emailed to let us know that he can't work on searching for Anna's birth mother right now because of some dangers. Hopefully things will calm down and he'll be able to help us at a later date when it's safer for him. We obviously don't want him in danger.

6 days until we travel

6 days until we travel. My newest BFF (or for those of us over 25 who don't watch Paris Hilton on a regular basis----best friend forever) is the notepad that's perched on my nightstand.

I can't figure out why this happens but my brain seems to work faster and harder when I'm sleeping than when I'm awake. Maybe it's because I multi-task far too much during the daytime and so my brain waits until I'm sleeping to give me one VERY important thought that I can't live without while I'm trying to catch 40 winks. Anyway, the only way for me to remember is to immediately fully wake up and write down the thought.

Our agency director told us to have a list of questions ready for Joseph's pediatrician, nannies, and caregivers when we get to ET so that we don't forget them. It's amazing how many questions pop into my brain at night and then get written down on the notepad. Just when I think we've got them all another 'more important than the others' question comes up. By writing the questions down it at least allows me to go back to sleep sooner. Now I need to figure out how to decipher my in the dark, no glasses writing.

7 days before we travel

7 days until we travel. The five day forecast predicts 40-50% chances of rain each day for Addis Ababa.

Now that we're fully-packed the time is starting to drag and I'm wondering how on earth we're going to make it 7 more days. The good news is this time next Friday we'll be flying to Amsterdam, Netherlands. It would probably be best if we were sleeping on the plane, but I have a feeling that's not going to be the case. Eric is rarely asleep before midnight so why would things be different next Friday?! I hear there's meals provided on the plane so I'm getting excited about that. Do you know how long it's been since we've had food on a plane other than pretzels or pay as you go Pringles?

My friend Mimi did a practice run of picking the kids up at our house and dropping them off at school today and it went fine. So, that means the kids will be making it to school while we're gone-check another thing off the to-do list.

Last night I had a dream that we couldn't get our dollars converted into birr so I went to an Internet cafe and faxed dollars to the US and then our bank faxed birr back to me. The sad news was that we didn't get a receipt for the transaction and so vendors wouldn't accept our faxed money. I was crying as none of the clothes that we had brought for Joseph fit and I had to buy clothes so that we could travel home. Eric, (Mr. Schmoozer), bless his heart, finally talked one vendor into accepting our money and the man gave us an Ethiopian costume. Joseph thought it was the greatest outfit ever.

I'm sure my dream meant something and I'm hoping we don't find it to be a reality once we arrive in Ethiopia. I've already been to our bank and have gotten 2001, and newer, $100 bills that are supposed to be best when exchanging money in Ethiopia. I'm guessing one of these nights soon I'll have a dream with Joseph not wanting to come home on the plane with us. That's going to be a long night.

8 days until we travel and guess what we got done....

2 bags packed!
4 bags packed!!

The Lockhart's are packed and ready to go. We have a 13 pound cushion and I'm determined not to add anything for me. It's going to be hard not to pack a few last minute items for Joseph since we're not sure what size he wears.

This is a new record for us as we've never been packed and ready to go this far in advance of any trip we've taken. Guess we're excited.

9 days left and new pictures of cutie patootie

Happy Birthday Uncle Frank.

We had a long conference call with our agency director today going over all of the papers that we need to complete and are then submitted to the US Embassy in Ethiopia when we arrive. She also covered what it's going to be like in Ethiopia schedule-wise, exchanging money, cell phones, meeting with pediatrician and head nurses/teachers, Joseph's diet/updates, Internet availability and what to wear along with many more topics.

I now feel as if we're ready to travel. We know where we're going and what's going to happen once we arrive in Ethiopia and it's a great feeling. There's a definite sense of peace tonight for us. Now we just have to wait 9 more days.

Tonight we received updated photos and medical information for Joseph. He has gotten a hair cut since last month's photos, but other than that, he doesn't look much different. He has grown 3.09 inches and 2.2 lb.s since time of referral (July 2nd), but he's still a little peanut. He is VERY cute! This will be the last update we get before we travel next Friday to pick him up. I can't wait to take photos of him with a smile on his face because he looks very serious in all of the photos we've received.

10 days left and new boots

We're almost there. Almost ready to travel and then suddenly I find new information about what to wear and how important boots are. Guess that means a repacking of the suitcases again and another shopping trip. I've never been a gal to wear boots. Even in the winter!

I thought I had spent more than enough hours gleaning information about what was appropriate and practical to wear in Ethiopia only to have those hours crushed in minutes by updated great information. Somewhere I read that it's best to dress modestly and in skirts or dresses so I cleaned out my mom's supply of skirts and diligently packed them along with matching tops of my own. The glitch came when I tried to pair up shoes. I've never worn a skirt or dress with anything but pumps, or slingback sandals, and so when thinking about the Ethiopian rainy season I went shopping for flats/tennis shoes that were somewhat waterproof, but not looking like hiking boots. Then the next thought was what do I wear with the flats (socks, panty hose, no hose). I honestly couldn't grab hold of the thought of wearing a skirt, tennis shoes and socks. Can you see how my mind was going crazy?

There has to be more important things for me to worry about right now. Then my friend Debbie said that a group who had just came back from Ethiopia had worn khakis, long capri pants and rain boots. Well yippee. I'm going to be able to wear what I'm normally comfortable in after all. Are you kidding me? Where did I miss that chapter in the "everything you need to know about adoption book".

This means I'm going to have to repack and also return the skirts to Mom. Then the new life or death question popped into my brain.........what shoes am I going to wear now in the mud and rain? No problem, I went to the local tractor supply store and found the cutest rain boots ever. These are going to work great with all my outfits and be very practical too. I can wash and wear them and they'll take up far less room than what I previously had packed.

Tomorrow morning we have a conference call with our agency and I'm guessing 'what to wear' will come up during this time. It's nice to know I've worked through the scenarios and will hopefully repack before she gives me new clothing suggestions. I don't think I've EVER worried this much about what to wear.

Debbie also gave me some other packing tips.....all of which I have done the opposite. She said:
1) If you're taking diapers-take them out of the package and use them to pack around and protect other items in the case. *I had put the entire pack in one case.
2) If you're taking snacks-take them out of the store boxes and packaging to save room. * I thought they'd crush easier that way, so I had them all stacked in their nice little (big) boxes.
3) Put some of each person's clothing in different cases so if a case gets lost you have items in one of the other cases. *Nope, I have a separate case for each person and one for the orphanage. No mixing of items here.
4) Make up ziplock bags of Joseph's clothes for the trip home. (ie, one shirt, pants, socks, diaper) in each ziplock baggie so then if he has an accident on the plane all you have to do is grab the ziplock and the baby wipes, go to the restroom and change him, and stuff the dirty items in the ziplock. No need taking the entire carry-on bag to the 2' x 3' airplane restroom. *I would have had the carry-on filled to the gills, but nothing would have been close to a ziplock baggie.

The question then entered my brain. First of all, how did Debbie become so smart about these facts. Secondly, we've traveled a lot with the kids and had excellent luck on every trip. How did someone with my lack of packing savvy ever survive with kids?

Oh well, I'll be hoping that this packing saga is coming to an end soon. The only bad news is Eric hasn't started yet and I'm not that excited about his size 13 shoes/boots ending up in my case.