Operation Nursery, Complete!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Details We Love About Judah's Room

Beautiful bedding lovingly made by Gran'ma

Artwork of an African scene painted by Great-Granddaddy Joe

You can read more about the oil painting here. 

 Bamboo flooring installed by Judah's Daddy!...and an adorable rug made by women in Africa.

You can read more about the rug here.

Vintage globe that will light up as Judah's night light...

Ethiopia is shining down on his crib.
Also, the mirror behind the globe inspired me because it reminded me of a lion's mane :-) 

Artwork by young family friend and former neighbor, Talen Niven. Talen drew this star not long before we received our referral for Judah. It was delivered to us on April 27th, 2010, approximately one hour after we received our referral phone call and saw Judah's picture for the first time. In fact, we were on the phone with family members sharing our good news when a mutual friend knocked on our door and delivered the gift and said, "Talen wanted you to have this in hopes that your baby can find his way home." Wow. Apparently Talen had an intuition that our baby would be a boy, and he certainly found his way to us that very day, the moment the gift was delivered! 

Loving Gladney Babies

One of the greatest joys since receiving our referral has been getting pictures and updates on Judah from other Gladney families. Also, seeing a picture of us in his crib (that was lovingly delivered by a Gladney family, along with other goodies) was awesome! We would like to do the same for someone else :-) If you would like for us to take pictures and/or deliver something special to your child, please email me a picture of your little one at nix.jandv@gmail.com. Also, please include your name/blog and email address, as well as your child's name and the # of their foster care home. If you will be mailing something to me, please remember that we are leaving soon, so I'd like everything by July 15th, so we can ensure packing space. Can't wait to love on these babies! Ok, back to the to-do list...we leave in 16 days!!!!

We're Going to Africa!

Flights and accommodations are booked! We leave Raleigh-Durham airport on Sunday, July 18th, and arrive in Ethiopia Monday evening, July 19th! We will more than likely meet Judah for the first time on the morning of Tuesday, July 20th, and he will be with us the entire week we are there. Our new family of 3 will be returning to Raleigh-Durham airport on Tuesday, July 27th!
We literally have 1 million things on our "to-do" list at this point, but I surprisingly have an overwhelming feeling of peace...and confidence that we will be as ready as we'll ever be by the time we board the plane! I am slightly nervous about how we will ALL do on the 16 hour flight from Washington, DC, straight to Ethiopia, so please be in prayer that Jeff and I can sleep at least most of the way there and that Judah can sleep most of the way back!

Also, our care package made it to Ethiopia and look who is now in Judah's crib :-)

He's Ours!

Introducing our son...

Judah Wells Nix

Third Time's A Charm?

The judge was not in court today. Don't really know why, but hoping he/she shows up soon. Gladney sounded positive about tomorrow, and thinks a ruling could be made within the next 24 hours. Trying our best to remain positive ourselves...

Court, round 2

Gladney called today to tell us that our court date has been rescheduled for this MONDAY, JUNE 21st! So grateful that there wasn't a major delay! Thanks to everyone for the well wishes and prayers...keep them coming!
p.s. An extra bit of good news also came our way this morning...a new picture and stats! He is as beautiful as ever and growing like a big boy :-)

Bummed Out

We did not "pass court" today. Our adoption agency called us yesterday afternoon to tell us that the government agency in Ethiopia who reviews our case and submits an opinion to the judge has suddenly decided to not work yesterday, today, and tomorrow due to a holiday. There is a chance they could review our case when they return to work on Thursday, but there is also a chance that they will be too back-logged and we will have to request another court date which could take several more weeks. We'll know more by the end of this week.
Needless to say, we are pretty bummed out around here. We are trying to remain hopeful, but yesterday was a reminder of how fragile and unpredictable this process can be. Seeing our sweet baby's face through pictures every day but not knowing when we will get to meet him in person is very difficult. Please pray for strength, endurance, and patience...as this wait is unlike any other.