Finger-eatin' good!

I am tired of looking at that ugly picture of me and Ted in last night's post. So here's this pretty thing to cover it up.
Every time I've woken up at night since Monday, I have a hard time getting back to sleep because I remember all over again that this is our baby. Unbelievable.

Plane tickets make reality sink in...

We didn't like the flight attendants on our flight last summer to Ireland with Ted's dad. They were simply just not very bright. We really wanted to like them since they were Irish and all, but really: not much going on upstairs. One in particular, though she was a pretty girl, kept making the face Ted and I are making in this photo to your left whenever we asked her a question. This was also the go-to face she'd use as a response to any of our jokes or attempts at friendly banter.

What does this have to do with anything? Well, besides putting aside any pride to show you how we entertain ourselves on airplanes, this trip to Ireland has played a decent role in getting our baby home. On our way back to the U.S. at the end of our trip, the flight was overbooked and we volunteered to give up our seats, thus getting hefty vouchers to use in the future. We got a free meal out of the deal too and ended up back at home only two hours later than planned.

We've been saving these vouchers since then and were able to use them towards our trip to Ethiopia. One caveat: Ted and I had to drive out to LAX tonight to use the vouchers at the ticket counter. As we were driving up, parking, and walking into the airport amidst seas of people at 8:30 pm on a Wednesday night, I told Ted that I feel a little bad that this is the first thing Abe is going to experience of the U.S. Poor thing: he's going to be uprooted from all that's familiar and comfortable to him to be taken care of by the likes of us.

While at the ticket counter, we were given this, which made me cry:
There was something so surreal about seeing his name on something as official as a plane ticket. The "Rooney" part got me all choked up and made my heart stop for a moment. This is for real.

The ladies at the ticket counter were happy to ooh and aaah over the photo I have of Abe in my wallet, though I had to correct one lady when she said that all babies are cute. I told her that I'm not so sure any baby Ted and I produced biologically could ever be as cute as this kid whose picture they were parading around. Before you try to leave any kind-hearted, reassuring comments, I offer the photograph at the top of this post as proof.

So yes, we've got our tickets booked, thanks to Ted, who could have a second career as a travel agent. He figured it all out himself, with hours and hours of work going into all of it. We're leaving Monday night from LAX around 8pm and arriving to Addis Ababa Wednesday night at around 10pm. Long trip on the way there, but the way back should be simpler. We'll get back to Los Angeles on the 26th in the afternoon and hang out here a few days before heading back up to Portland, our other beloved land of green and lucky rainbows.

Look who I got to meet today!Dani drove all the out to my favorite coffee place to meet up and give me the biggest bottle of bubbly I've seen in my life. How fun! We've invited our neighbors over to share it with us tomorrow night.

And check out her amazing little man:
They've been home all of two weeks, and already Judah is sleeping 11 hours a night and is a complete delight. He is so much fun to make giggle. I think I could have spent hours making my "bing!" and "bong!" noises to get that laugh out of him. What an amazing boy. We're looking forward to letting Abe and Judah giggle and play when we get back, maybe while us grown-ups enjoy another monster bottle of bubbly...and then we'll all be sharing in the giggles.

How it went down, finally

We are a couple of spoiled people. For the last few days, Ted and I have been trying to share the use of a lap-top during a very busy time when we both actually really need consistent access to a computer. This is why I haven't posted details of Monday yet. Thanks for being patient.

So this is how it all went down:

Like I said before, I've had a strange amount of peace about everything for the last couple of weeks, excluding the popcorn on the floor meltdown a week ago. Packing up Abe's stuff to come down to L.A. was not an easy task, but it was definitely made easier by two factors: 1. I think God may have been nudging me to do it and 2. A friend came over and watched Magnolia with me while I did most of the packing (in my top ten favorite movies of all time: "I do have love to give, I just don't know where to put it!" is one of the best lines in any film, ever--breaks my heart every time I hear it).

I got down to L.A., with that March Forth breadcrumb and a suitcase packed full of 'Neezer gear'. Then as Ted and I were praying Sunday night about the court date coming up, my prayer was something like this, "God, I know that in heaven all things will be made right, that we'll see full justice there for eternity, but I'm asking in your grace and mercy to give us just a portion of that justice here on this earth for the sake of our family and this baby."

Then we went to bed, and I slept until 10:00. Yes, you heard that right: when I can sleep, I sleep, even if that means into the late morning. Please don't judge me. I'm prepared to have this change with the presence of Abe in our lives, I promise.

When I woke up, I checked my phone and saw that Mary had called twice within five minutes of each other. She's been so great about calling just to ask how we're doing, so I figured that's what this was, that she was checking in the day before our court date. I went to check my email, figuring she would have written when she couldn't reach us, but there was no email from her.

That was the first clue that something was up.

So I went to call her back and when she actually picked up her phone, that was clue number 2 (it usually goes straight to voice-mail). I said, "Hi Mary, this is Lori Rooney." She answered me in a sing-songy sort of way, "Oh hi! Are you sitting down?"

Clue number 3.

She then said, "It's done, Lori! Go get Ted!"

Uh, clue 4.

So I jumped up, ran downstairs to find Ted and saw him standing outside on the deck. I ran across the living room and ended in a long slide in my slippers across the dining room until crashing into the back door and dropping the phone. I opened the door and blurted something out to Ted about "It's Mary! It's over! It's done!" then picked the phone back up and heard Mary laughing.

It turns out that what happened is that Belay and Dr. Tilahun, Gladney's lawyer, decided to go early to court last Thursday to petition for an early court date. They didn't tell anyone they were doing this, otherwise Mary would have told us. They went back Friday. Then they went back Monday (these men have gumption and persistence).

On Monday at the court of appeals, in what wasn't even an official "court date," the right someone looked at all the documents, and asked a few questions, one of which was something about, "Why wasn't this adoption approved two months ago? What's the problem here?" Belay and Dr. Tilahun tried to explain what went down on that awful January 4th court date, which apparently baffled this court official (as it has baffled everyone else involved).

Gladney had gone out of their way (major understatement) to gather together additional proof that this adoption was nothing but 100% ethical, but the court official didn't even ask to see all these additional documents. The official said that there was no reason this adoption should not be granted, whipped out a couple of stamps, did his judicial magic, and finished the thing, a day early and without the big scary "court date."

Crazy, huh? From that point, Abe became officially Abe Rooney. Belay and Dr. Tilahun are officially our heroes. There is no thank you big enough for them.

So for any of you Gladney families out there who are in difficult circumstances of waiting, wondering what's going on, unsure of the next step, please know this: You can not be in better hands. This team of people will do everything possible to bring these children to their families. Do not fear.

We've had our moments of frustration at these lost two months thanks to a very bad decision on January 4th which was based on suspicion and not facts, but I try not to focus on this. Nothing will change it, and we are just so thankful that God brought justice now. That was my prayer, and the God who loves us and Abe very much showed us mercy.

So we spent the rest of Monday calling people and reading all those amazing comments of congratulations from friends, family, and people we've yet to meet (but hope to at the blogging union this summer). Abe is one loved little boy, no doubt about that one.

We ended the day by opening up the most expensive bottle of champagne we've ever had, given to us for our wedding by our L.A. neighbors Grant and Katherine (hey guys!). In fact, I think it may have been my first time drinking actual champagne: we usually go for the $10 bottles of "sparkling wine."

Yes, the photo is cheese-bally, but don't we deserve to be cheeseballs?

So now we're making our travel plans. Keep sending in those SD cards for anyone who wants pics of their kids. And thank you again for all the support and prayers. We are happy, even when we have to share the laptop.

SD Memory Cards

Ted and I are sharing the laptop, hence the lack of details yet. He's busy researching flights online. Before too much time goes by, I wanted to let waiting families know that if you want me to take photos of your babes, you can send me an SD card for our digital camera, and we would be so happy to fill it up with photos for you. Just send me an email and I can let you know where to mail it (not to Portland for any of you who have that address).

Doesn't Amy look pretty in orange?

It looks like we may be leaving Monday, March 11th, so get the cards in the mail soon to make sure I have them set and ready to go. Amy sending us a card of photos with Abe was the most amazing gift, so I am so happy to be able to "pay it forward" now to other families!

Here's a photo sent to us by Jocelyn. She's holding Abe and her sister is holding Pacey. I have another photo where Abe is holding the hand of Jocelyn's sis, staring at her with big puppy dog eyes. Looks like the boy has already had his first crush.

Favorite picture

I can't resist. Here's my favorite picture of Abe Rooney:

And really, more details tomorrow. For now, I must go to bed. What a day. Thank you for all the amazing comments of congratulations. We love you all. I think Abe does too. We feel like lucky people. Can you believe that dimple in his right cheek?

Our Own Rooney

I know it's been frustrating not to be able to see Abe's picture these last two months, but as a lot of you know, there's a policy not to post photographs of children until we are the official parents.

That being said...


I told you this was a twisty tale! Right now angels are singing and we are dancing!!!

WE HAVE OUR OWN ROONEY!

details to follow...for those of you fasting--break it, open up a bottle of champagne and eat a big ole steak!

March Forth!

One of my favorite things about blogging is when we get a comment from someone who's been reading for a while but had yet to make contact. One day last week, I got a comment that made me laugh out loud in pure joy. Here's what it said:

I have been praying for you and thinking of you often-and i haven't even met you! so it is possible to have a relationship w/ people you haven't met :) but i always think of your court date as a command "March FORTH!", with confidence in God leading the way on this journey. just wanted to share that with you!!

This is from the amazing knitter Jody in Virginia, and her comment led to an amazing breadcrumb moment for me. On the flight down to Burbank yesterday afternoon, I was reading the weekend section of The Oregonian and saw an article about a marching band performing Tuesday at the Chrystal Ballroom. I did a double-take and almost laughed out loud again in pure joy as I saw what the name of this "surrealist high energy big band ensemble" is: March Fourth.
You can listen to them here.
(for any of you just joining this twisty tale of our adoption, March 4th is the date for our appeal in the adoption of Abenezer, the child Gladney has matched us with. Everything has been building to this point...though we're trying to prepare ourselves for the possibility of further delays too).

I made it down to Los Angeles Saturday in time for us to go to the evening service at the church we attend here, and it was such a good thing to visit with old faithful friends there. I could hardly make it through one of the songs they sang, a new one by Tommy Walker, the worship leader. Its title, "Hallelujah, We Will Sing," is simple enough, but the words are about my favorite theme in church music: the promise of heaven and the glory found there.

When I was in high school, my pastor told me that I had an "overdeveloped sense of justice." I suppose it's true. I have a hard time letting go of things that seem unfair, which is why the Sermon on the Mount and songs or books about heaven speak to me so deeply: one day it's all gonna be made right. I can let go.

A cried all the way through the beginning of the song:

...He'll judge and make things right.
Turn all the dark to light.
When He splits the eastern sky
With heaven wings I'll fly
And I will say goodbye
To these tears I've cried.
Around his thrown of grace
We'll see Him face to face
With those who've gone before (this line especially gets me)
We'll be apart no more...

So since I couldn't sing anyway through all my tears and ugly-crying-face, I whipped out my camera and took a video of the chorus, which you can see by clicking here. I needed this song and this moment.

We're waiting for Tuesday morning. I have a strange peace. This can only be God. Thank you thank you thank you a thousand times for all your continued prayers. We're trying to prepare ourselves for every possibility. I know God is good. That fact is my "constant" (you Lost fans will get that reference...sorry for the foray into dorkiness).

Speaking of...I'll leave you with a few seconds of our afternoon today at Venice Beach. Ted has never been able to resist the funk.