Moving right along...

 I have been horrible about posting lately because we've been incredibly busy getting our room rearranged so that there's room for a sweet baby boy, his bed, and a changing table. 

We bought this house almost three years ago and the description our realtor gave us when she told us about it for the first time was "It's filthy, filthy, filthy, but it has potential."  SWEET!!  She wasn't kidding when she told us it was filthy.  We couldn't walk on the carpet with flip-flops without hair getting tangled in our toes.  The kitchen had not been cleaned for YEARS.  The toilets were black inside.  The walls were just as filthy as the carpet and had never been painted.  It was filthy.  Before we moved in, we painted all of the walls in the main living area, redid all the flooring, and cleaned like we have never cleaned before with some serious toxic chemicals - going green just wasn't happening on this filth.  Anyway, long story short (I guess it's too late for that), everything has been redone EXCEPT for our bedroom/bathroom.  Isn't that how it always goes?  But not anymore!!  This week the girls are out of school for spring break and I decided to use that as my opportunity to paint our room!  I can't tell you the difference it has made!!  No more mysterious brown smear marks on the wall!  Grody to the max, people!  It's amazing what some paint can do.  AND...it's BLUE!!  In honor of baby boy of course!

So, the whole reason for this post is to tell you that we have made some progress on the adoption front this week!  We learned earlier this week that Ty has been moved from the care center in Durame (where we visited him) to a care center in Addis Ababa.  While we are VERY sad when we think about what he has left behind, we are also rejoicing because it means he is that much closer to coming home.  We also know that the nannies in Durame are rejoicing with us because they know how important it is for him to have a family.  We have heard wonderful things about his new care center, and we have told told that his main nanny traveled with him and will stay with him until he is adjusted to his new environment.  Wish she could come home with us too!! 

Today I received a copy of Ty's new birth certificate with OUR names on it as his mother and father.  Wow.  Absolutely took my breath away.  His name is listed as such: Birth-given first name, Daddy's first name, our last name.  We will eventually change this to: Birth-given first name, Mattias, our last name, but to see his Daddy's name in there for now is INCREDIBLE!!  This birth certificate also has his birth date according to the Ethiopian calendar - January 19, 2003.  This still just makes me shake my head.  I can guarantee you with 100% certainty that he is not eight years old!

We also received a copy of the court decree...also INCREDIBLE!! 

We were also asked to overnight some forms that we have to fill out so that we can be submitted for Embassy.  Although expensive, I like when they ask me to overnight something because that means they need it ASAP to keep things moving along!  That's good, right? 

Okay...I think that's it. 

Thank you for keeping our family, Ty, Enat, and this entire process in your prayers!  While we are certain that there has been some spiritual warfare going on (close friends and family members falling very ill, as well as the state government giving us a run for our money), we have never felt so covered by God's mercy and grace and favor.