Another Surprise Baby Shower!

My coworkers surprised me with a wonderful baby shower on Monday morning. They did a great job of keeping the secret (as did Louie) because I really had no idea until I walked into the conference room and saw the decorations. They have been overwhelmingly supportive and encouraging from the beginning of this long process, so I almost feel guilty that they have gone and done another nice thing for me. They gave us lots of wonderful things...an Exersaucer, a baby monitor, toys, etc. I can't wait for Cati and Gus to come home and enjoy all their new things!

Speaking of Cati and Gus, I had a quick call with Rosita and Cati this afternoon. Louie was out of the office, so I enlisted the help of my super-cute, Spanish-speaking colleague, Mary. It sounds like the birth mother signed the power of attorney form without a hitch. This doesn't mean anything at all to our PGN timeline, but it is one more thing checked off the list for after our PGN exit. Cati wasn't extremely talkative today. She told me that she loved me and that she was watching cartoons. She also said that she's going to bring Gustavito and Rosita to the United States with her on the plane and we're all going to see Mickey Mouse and Winnie Pooh (that's what she calls him...no "the"). Bless her little heart! She's so excited about coming to the United States with us, but she doesn't realize that coming home to the United States means leaving Rosita behind. That is going to be a very sad day in our daughter's life. I can't even think about it without crying. The good news for Cati and Gus, though, is that we will always keep in touch with Rosita and her family. We love them and will forever be grateful to them!

One more bit of news on a happy, happy note...our friends, Josh and Keely, are also going through the adoption process. They are adopting from Ethiopia and their process is a little different than ours...all of their waiting occurred upfront before the referral. They submitted their dossier around the same time we did back in April and they finally got their referral on Friday!!! Their beautiful baby girl is 2 months old and her given name is "Yimegnushal Aklilu." Yimegnushal means "they are longing for you" in her native language. Isn't that perfect!? Once she gets home, her name will be Salem. We love Salem already! Her parents are two of the most amazing people we've ever met and we are so excited about the future of their family!!