Dossier On the Move!

Our dossier arrived this morning at AGCI and was expedited to D.C. for authentication. This is going to be interesting. I always tell people that if they ever want to adopt, I will show them how to cut through the paperwork in a timely fashion. Now, I know it can be re-done in a matter of days! It's a good thing I ordered extras for all official documents!

There is some news on the HH front...it looks like they will try to get him to the home by the beginning of next week. It's something...and for me, it's everything! Who said adoption is not for the faint of heart? You're not kidding!

I think I need some pictures on this blog...I will have to solicit some help from my computer-savvy daughter...it's a generational thing.

Dossier off! Again...

I just mailed our new dossier today to replace the stolen one. If you have the choice, you may want to ask your HS person if you can leave off SS#'s in your HomeStudy. That's not a good thing to have floating around. I hope we can get back on track for a court date. I would assume we are looking at another 2-4 weeks of authentication and the final translation before we can be submitted for dates. Wow, that's sad for me. I read on someone's blog that the courts may be adding a third judge. If that's true, that is a blessing.

Everyone is getting news about their children from our caseworker's visit and it all sounds so exciting! It would be a relief and my heart would swell knowing that a little one across the world knows about us and is getting excited to start a new life! Bless all those children and their new families.

We still wait to hear anything on our little boy. It has actually been three months and no update. It makes me a little nervous when I think about it like that. I would be content if he were in the care of HH, but his mommy has obviously taken great care of him so far. Our situation is definitely unusual, I think. I trust in AGCI and hope to get some news real soon.

Good Friday...

Okay, so we hit the ground running alright! Now, we are just waiting for our physicians to sign off on the medicals and our city clearance forms and we are ready to overnight the paperwork! Our only concern is that it still needs to go back to D.C. then to Ethiopia for translation (which could mean another month out!). Hopefully, it will make it to HH without interference. This is crazy, but we are getting enough sympathy from those signing forms for us, that they are doing their best to get things done.

Sadly, yesterday was our little guy's birthday...hope his day was better than ours...Happy Birthday.

Tomorrow is Another Day..

Today's news was not great. It started out on a positive note. A while ago, my husband met a darling Ethiopian girl working at the airport. She has been trying to bring her nieces and mother to America, but is unable to bring all of them together. She is afraid the children will be left behind. Today, I offered to go with her to immigration and see if I can help her understand how it all works. As usual, we received standard answers that didn't help.

Next, my husband called with an unfortunate incident. We have been so excited for news from our caseworker about her trip to Ethiopia and to see if our boy has yet arrived at HH. Apparently, our entire dossier was stolen and we have to very quickly start over! I am trying to be understanding and calm. As the day wears on, I am beginning to stress about what it all means as far as court dates, travel, etc. I was sorta expecting a court date, to be honest.

Next, my dear friend lost her father and I was pulled over by a state trooper for speeding! It was a full day, but on a high note...our son is home from college for Easter and we are just going to enjoy it.

I will have to hit the road running early Good Friday...lots of papers to notarize and forms to drop off! Tomorrow is another day...

We continue to wait...

So it has been over a month since we accepted the referral. To date, we have no knowledge as to whether our little guy is at HH or not. Our caseworker made a trip to Ethiopia last week and returned to work yesterday. I'm pretty sure we are not the only ones holding our breath for her to call and give us updates. I hate to bug her...but the anticipation is killing me! Our friends admit they are afraid to ask how things are going because they don't want me to get frustrated with the reminder that we sit in limbo.

We also wait for news about Homeland Security. Our application went in mid January, and so we wait for that approval...looking for a letter...something.

We sent a package and photo album to our little guy. Hopefully, our caseworker took it with her. It will be his birthday in 2 days and we sent him a very cool Spiderman transformer type-thingy...a type of toy I haven't seen in our home for a good 10 years!

Grandpa (my dad) has been practicing some online Amharic and learning about Ethiopia. Isn't that cute? It took a while for them to accept this adoption idea, but I think they are getting pretty excited now! He says he will be the best grandpa he can be to his new grandson. So cute!

Accepted the Referral!

Today we mailed in the acceptance! It should arrive tomorrow. We gave each other the "tiger" and said a prayer that all will go well. Without having the full medical information yet, we have to take another "leap of faith". When the complete medical evaluation is done and all looks fine, we will take a deep breath of relief. If there are any issues, we are not obligated to go through with it...but I don't like those options. We can't imagine choosing a different child...this one is ours! Today, our adoption doc said that he already decided if we don't take him, he will! Well, that speaks volumes! This process is emotional, nerve-wracking, exciting, scary...but most of all...faith-driven! Tomorrow, we complete the immunizations for travel for our daughter. Then, we are ready for the journey to begin!

Hopefully, our dossier has landed in Ethiopia today or tomorrow...

Official Referral!

We received our official referral on Thursday! We contacted the doctor and it looks like everything looks fine so far...just waiting on a little more info. as our boy is not at HH yet.