Well, we just had the best night in a looooong time! We were out all afternoon and evening, and when we got home around 8:30, there was a message on the machine from Lesley, our program coordinator, saying she had an "update" for us. I knew this either meant really good news or really bad news, so I didn't even wait until the kids were in bed to call her back! Luckily, it was even better than I had hoped (I was hoping to hear that we were ready to be submitted for court this week), and she said that we were actually submitted for court today!!!! YAY! It will still be 4-6 weeks before we find out our court date, and then a while after that before we get to go, but this is a major hurdle to jump. We are really getting closer! Based on court dates that have been passed out recently, we are thinking our court date will be sometime in June, but we really don't know. We also found out that a family we have become close to was also submitted today, so we are excited and hopeful that we may get to travel together, which would be extra fun!
As if that wasn't good enough news for the night, I hung up the phone, opened my e-mail, and found a message from a wonderful new adoption friend who was just in Ethiopia bringing her new son home. While there, she realized our daughter was at the same place as her son! They didn't know this until their last day just before they flew home, but she was able to snap 3 quick pictures for us of our beautiful girl while she slept. She was also able to tell us that she looks "very healthy and chunky"!! :) Oh, she looks even more gorgeous than she did in her referral picture!
So, wow, what a wonderful night we've had. I now have a few new pictures to ooh and aah over, and hope that our end really may be in sight!!
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
I Got Nothin'...
No news, no facts, no idea what is going on, either in Ethiopia with the system as a whole, or with our case specifically. A little frustrating, to be sure!
Last Wednesday, several other prospective adoptive parents with various agencies began reporting that their agencies were saying lots of positive things about the whole letter writing decrease. Three different agencies all said essentially the same thing, which is that the government had fired the entire staff at MOWA (those who had decided to implement the 5 letter rule), the new staff is committed to eliminating a backlog of 800+ cases over the next few weeks (this seems difficult, but obviously we want it to be true!), and they aren't going to be tied down to a certain number of letters per day, but rather, would try to work as thoroughly and efficiently as possible. This all sounds great, but at this point it's still been just a handful of agencies (and ours is not one of them) reporting this, and there's been no official word from the US Dept. of State or the Ethiopian government. So we wait, but feel more encouraged and hopeful than we have over the past few weeks.
As far as our case goes, we are getting a little down. We were referred almost 6 weeks ago, and were told that our daughter needed to be in the orphanage a while longer before we could be submitted for court, but that it would give everyone time to get our paperwork gathered and ready. Great! However, the date we were eligible came and went, and we still have no idea if we are anywhere close to being submitted for court. I know there are lots of different papers that must be acquired and translated, and some of them involve travel across the country. And of course our case is not the only one they are working on! Once we are submitted, it will probably take a month, maybe longer, before we find out when we go. We naively hoped it would be May, but are now thinking it will be more like June. This is disappointing, but there's not much we can do about it. We would wait forever if we had to, we're just hoping the wait is quite a bit shorter than that!! We are also hoping and praying that we get an update on her soon...we are anxious beyond words to see her beautiful face again and learn anything we can about her development and personality.
So that's what's going on here...not a whole lot! We know that everything will work out, we're just excited to meet her and can't wait to travel!
Last Wednesday, several other prospective adoptive parents with various agencies began reporting that their agencies were saying lots of positive things about the whole letter writing decrease. Three different agencies all said essentially the same thing, which is that the government had fired the entire staff at MOWA (those who had decided to implement the 5 letter rule), the new staff is committed to eliminating a backlog of 800+ cases over the next few weeks (this seems difficult, but obviously we want it to be true!), and they aren't going to be tied down to a certain number of letters per day, but rather, would try to work as thoroughly and efficiently as possible. This all sounds great, but at this point it's still been just a handful of agencies (and ours is not one of them) reporting this, and there's been no official word from the US Dept. of State or the Ethiopian government. So we wait, but feel more encouraged and hopeful than we have over the past few weeks.
As far as our case goes, we are getting a little down. We were referred almost 6 weeks ago, and were told that our daughter needed to be in the orphanage a while longer before we could be submitted for court, but that it would give everyone time to get our paperwork gathered and ready. Great! However, the date we were eligible came and went, and we still have no idea if we are anywhere close to being submitted for court. I know there are lots of different papers that must be acquired and translated, and some of them involve travel across the country. And of course our case is not the only one they are working on! Once we are submitted, it will probably take a month, maybe longer, before we find out when we go. We naively hoped it would be May, but are now thinking it will be more like June. This is disappointing, but there's not much we can do about it. We would wait forever if we had to, we're just hoping the wait is quite a bit shorter than that!! We are also hoping and praying that we get an update on her soon...we are anxious beyond words to see her beautiful face again and learn anything we can about her development and personality.
So that's what's going on here...not a whole lot! We know that everything will work out, we're just excited to meet her and can't wait to travel!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
One month ago tonight...
we got a phone call, opened an e-mailed picture, and saw the most beautiful face in the world. We were elated, and saw nothing but wonderful things in our future...a trip to Ethiopia in a few months to meet our daughter and legally adopt her in court, a return here for a couple of months, and then one more trip to bring her home forever.
Tonight I sit feeling sick to my stomach with worry over whether that will happen in a few months, or a year. Whether it will happen as easily and quickly as we had hoped, or whether our current road of uncertainty and worry will continue. We hope to know more about how all, and even if, all of these changes will play out as this week begins. We remain optimistic that the motive behind the changes (to make sure all adoptions are ethical) can be achieved without the drastic slowdown that has been planned.
I don't discuss God, prayer, or faith on this blog that often, for fear of making some of our friends and family uncomfortable. But tonight, I ask of you...please keep us in your prayers. We truly believe that this adoption was ordained by God. We believe that He called us to do this, hand-picked our family for that one sweet baby, and we know that He alone knows exactly when and how all of this will be resolved. We know He will not abandon us on this journey now. But we would still appreciate any prayers you have to spare.
My favorite verse of the Bible is Jeremiah 29:11-13: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." We are trying to remember that, but it gets hard. Faith is a tricky, scary thing, especially when you need it the most. So please, pray for us that we have peace. Pray that this situation is resolved. Pray for all of the adoptive families also sitting sick with worry tonight. And please pray for the children of Ethiopia and every other country, that those in charge of their futures make the best decisions possible for them.
Tonight I sit feeling sick to my stomach with worry over whether that will happen in a few months, or a year. Whether it will happen as easily and quickly as we had hoped, or whether our current road of uncertainty and worry will continue. We hope to know more about how all, and even if, all of these changes will play out as this week begins. We remain optimistic that the motive behind the changes (to make sure all adoptions are ethical) can be achieved without the drastic slowdown that has been planned.
I don't discuss God, prayer, or faith on this blog that often, for fear of making some of our friends and family uncomfortable. But tonight, I ask of you...please keep us in your prayers. We truly believe that this adoption was ordained by God. We believe that He called us to do this, hand-picked our family for that one sweet baby, and we know that He alone knows exactly when and how all of this will be resolved. We know He will not abandon us on this journey now. But we would still appreciate any prayers you have to spare.
My favorite verse of the Bible is Jeremiah 29:11-13: "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." We are trying to remember that, but it gets hard. Faith is a tricky, scary thing, especially when you need it the most. So please, pray for us that we have peace. Pray that this situation is resolved. Pray for all of the adoptive families also sitting sick with worry tonight. And please pray for the children of Ethiopia and every other country, that those in charge of their futures make the best decisions possible for them.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Things I am Thankful For Tonight...
1) That my two sweet boys, even when they are having a very bad night, can still make me smile and laugh. That they are snuggled warm and cozy in their beds as we speak, and in a few hours I will go check on them, kiss them goodnight, and be able to go in and enjoy the sweet sight that is my children sleeping.
2) That my wonderful husband works so hard for our family. That he is selfless and dedicated to his work and family. That he loves me, even when I am difficult. That he is the best father I could ever imagine.
3) That I have a wonderful community of friends and family who love us and support us, no matter what. That I have a best friend that "gets" me like few others do. That I have met so many wonderful strangers in this adoption community who I now consider friends.
4) That the pricing for the children's sale is going well, and that people are coming and buying it here, saving me the cut the sale people take. I've made $215 so far!! That my mom was willing to spend 3 hours on her precious day off to help me tag said clothes and get them ready for people to come shop.
5) That in a village in Ethiopia, a sweet baby girl is enjoying her last few hours of sleep for the night, completely unaware that her family is excited beyond measure for her to join them. That we get to be that family.
2) That my wonderful husband works so hard for our family. That he is selfless and dedicated to his work and family. That he loves me, even when I am difficult. That he is the best father I could ever imagine.
3) That I have a wonderful community of friends and family who love us and support us, no matter what. That I have a best friend that "gets" me like few others do. That I have met so many wonderful strangers in this adoption community who I now consider friends.
4) That the pricing for the children's sale is going well, and that people are coming and buying it here, saving me the cut the sale people take. I've made $215 so far!! That my mom was willing to spend 3 hours on her precious day off to help me tag said clothes and get them ready for people to come shop.
5) That in a village in Ethiopia, a sweet baby girl is enjoying her last few hours of sleep for the night, completely unaware that her family is excited beyond measure for her to join them. That we get to be that family.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Scary Stuff...
There are some very serious changes being proposed right now in Ethiopia, and these would affect us greatly. The summary is that there is a government agency there that must write a recommendation letter regarding every adoption before a judge can hear the case and adoptive parents can be granted custody of their new child. This agency works very hard, and typically writes about 40 of these letters everyday. Well, they are proposing that beginning on March 10th, they will only write 5 letters per day. Since adoptive families were waiting two months or so for a court date when the agency was writing 40 letters, you can do the math and figure out that it would make the wait for a court date take a year, easily.
The US government, as well as the Ethiopian court system, are not in agreement with this plan. The motives behind it are wonderful: there is rising concern that child trafficking and other illegal practices are occurring, and they want to allow enough time to do more thorough investigations of all cases. However, this also would mean that thousands upon thousands of children who are in orphanages right now would remain there for much longer periods of time. When the orphanages are full, there would be no room for more children. I don't want to think about what would happen to them. Our government is in talks with them to try to get them additional training and staff, and if the problem truly is a lack of time/staff to investigate, I would hope that would help. We have also been told that things like this are stated sometimes but never come to fruition, so that may happen as well. They said they would begin this new policy on March 10th, so we should begin to see some answers throughout the week. Many adoption agencies, as well as the US State Department, are in talks with them this week as well, trying to find a compromise. Personally, my very selfish hope is that at the very least they won't delay things greatly for those of us who have been matched with a child already, so that those kids aren't languishing in orphanages for months more than necessary.
So right now, we wait. Our daughter waits. We pray. If you are the praying kind, we would ask that you pray as well. Pray for the government agency to try to find a solution that won't affect the long-term future of these children. Pray that court cases are allowed to continue at a reasonable rate. And please, pray for the children there, including our daughter, that they feel our love here and know that we are waiting for them, no matter how long it takes.
The US government, as well as the Ethiopian court system, are not in agreement with this plan. The motives behind it are wonderful: there is rising concern that child trafficking and other illegal practices are occurring, and they want to allow enough time to do more thorough investigations of all cases. However, this also would mean that thousands upon thousands of children who are in orphanages right now would remain there for much longer periods of time. When the orphanages are full, there would be no room for more children. I don't want to think about what would happen to them. Our government is in talks with them to try to get them additional training and staff, and if the problem truly is a lack of time/staff to investigate, I would hope that would help. We have also been told that things like this are stated sometimes but never come to fruition, so that may happen as well. They said they would begin this new policy on March 10th, so we should begin to see some answers throughout the week. Many adoption agencies, as well as the US State Department, are in talks with them this week as well, trying to find a compromise. Personally, my very selfish hope is that at the very least they won't delay things greatly for those of us who have been matched with a child already, so that those kids aren't languishing in orphanages for months more than necessary.
So right now, we wait. Our daughter waits. We pray. If you are the praying kind, we would ask that you pray as well. Pray for the government agency to try to find a solution that won't affect the long-term future of these children. Pray that court cases are allowed to continue at a reasonable rate. And please, pray for the children there, including our daughter, that they feel our love here and know that we are waiting for them, no matter how long it takes.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Isn't it ironic?
So no more than an hour after I wrote that last post about how stressed I was and how much I have to do, did I become super nauseous, and I still feel that way 25 hours later. Apparently my plans to be super productive today while Cooper is with his grandma were just a pipe dream, as I have mostly laid on the couch all day :( Sigh...
I did want to post a picture of all the clothes I am selling, just so you can appreciate the sheer quantity I am up against! And the saddest part is that this table doesn't include any 0-6 month clothes, or anything bigger than 5T, because I am (thankfully) done with those. Sigh...
One wonderful thing is that people are already responding to my pathetic whining about not wanting to contact businesses to solicit donations for the silent auction! Apparently being pitiful works! My best friend from high school and her husband generously donated something cool (you'll have to come to the dance to find out what!), and my wonderful father, who is in sales and unafraid of cold calling, offered to contact the local businesses he works with. Even my brother, who is a general manager of a restaurant and lives in Texas, has offered to speak "restaurant talk" with local ones when they come for a visit in a few weeks. I'm blessed, I tell ya.
Ethiopia has been on my mind all day today. I've met some wonderful families throughout this process, and one of them got some fabulous news today. They have been waiting 10 long weeks since they went for court to go back for their Embassy appointment, and they just found out today that they have been approved and will finally get to bring their baby boy home in just a few more days! Other new friends are waiting for court dates, just like us, and some are still waiting for referrals, immigration approval (remember when I was stalking the mailbox?), or completed homestudies. So I pray for all of these families, as I know they pray for us. The adoption community is an AMAZING group to belong to.
I did want to post a picture of all the clothes I am selling, just so you can appreciate the sheer quantity I am up against! And the saddest part is that this table doesn't include any 0-6 month clothes, or anything bigger than 5T, because I am (thankfully) done with those. Sigh...
One wonderful thing is that people are already responding to my pathetic whining about not wanting to contact businesses to solicit donations for the silent auction! Apparently being pitiful works! My best friend from high school and her husband generously donated something cool (you'll have to come to the dance to find out what!), and my wonderful father, who is in sales and unafraid of cold calling, offered to contact the local businesses he works with. Even my brother, who is a general manager of a restaurant and lives in Texas, has offered to speak "restaurant talk" with local ones when they come for a visit in a few weeks. I'm blessed, I tell ya.
Ethiopia has been on my mind all day today. I've met some wonderful families throughout this process, and one of them got some fabulous news today. They have been waiting 10 long weeks since they went for court to go back for their Embassy appointment, and they just found out today that they have been approved and will finally get to bring their baby boy home in just a few more days! Other new friends are waiting for court dates, just like us, and some are still waiting for referrals, immigration approval (remember when I was stalking the mailbox?), or completed homestudies. So I pray for all of these families, as I know they pray for us. The adoption community is an AMAZING group to belong to.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Stressed.
That's me.
I feel like I have a million things going on, and I am starting to freak out a little at the thought of trying to get them all done. On top of that, I miss my daughter and just want to be in Ethiopia kissing and loving her already! There have been rumors this week of court delays in Ethiopia, and I have been freaking out about that. I know that everything that happens is out of my control (did I mention I hate that feeling?!), and that God already knows the exact day and time we are meant to meet her, but I would love a peek at His schedule!
What we are working on around here: For starters, the semi-annual Children's Sale is coming up on March 26th. If you remember, last September I begged and pleaded and several of you stepped up with generous donations of hangers for me. I had so many that even though I think I actually have more clothes this time than last (leftovers from the garage sale), I am doing fine on hangers! Yay! There is still the unbelievably time consuming process of hanging each item up, writing a tag for each one, and then pinning the tags on. I have spent over 8 hours on it so far, and am only a quarter of the way done. I'll try to take a picture of my dining room table to so you can appreciate my pain. We made over $900 from the last sale though, so it is definitely worth my time! With travel coming closer, we need every penny! I think this time I also going to have a shopping open house on March 11th and 12th. If you have a boy (especially in sizes preemie-3T, but I do have some bigger pieces as well, all the way through a size 16...garage sale leftovers), please consider shopping. Feel free to comment or e-mail if you are interested.
Next on my agenda is getting ready for the fundraiser dance we are having with our friends, the Taylors. I promise a more detailed post on this later (see the fancy button on the top right?), but for now just know that I need to be soliciting donations for our Silent Auction, and I HATE stuff like that. I am also terrible at it! So do me a favor, and if you have a business or know someone who has a business, and would be interested (willing) to donate something, please let me know.
And lastly, and what I would rather be working on than all the rest of this, is getting rooms ready for our kiddos. Cooper is getting a big boy room, and baby girl (still no name...thanks for the suggestions though!) is moving into my craft room. Major moving and painting going on around here. This sounds much more fun to me than tagging clothes and cold calling businesses, but alas, priorities dictate that it falls to last for now. You know you're busy when painting sounds more fun than your other options!!
I feel like I have a million things going on, and I am starting to freak out a little at the thought of trying to get them all done. On top of that, I miss my daughter and just want to be in Ethiopia kissing and loving her already! There have been rumors this week of court delays in Ethiopia, and I have been freaking out about that. I know that everything that happens is out of my control (did I mention I hate that feeling?!), and that God already knows the exact day and time we are meant to meet her, but I would love a peek at His schedule!
What we are working on around here: For starters, the semi-annual Children's Sale is coming up on March 26th. If you remember, last September I begged and pleaded and several of you stepped up with generous donations of hangers for me. I had so many that even though I think I actually have more clothes this time than last (leftovers from the garage sale), I am doing fine on hangers! Yay! There is still the unbelievably time consuming process of hanging each item up, writing a tag for each one, and then pinning the tags on. I have spent over 8 hours on it so far, and am only a quarter of the way done. I'll try to take a picture of my dining room table to so you can appreciate my pain. We made over $900 from the last sale though, so it is definitely worth my time! With travel coming closer, we need every penny! I think this time I also going to have a shopping open house on March 11th and 12th. If you have a boy (especially in sizes preemie-3T, but I do have some bigger pieces as well, all the way through a size 16...garage sale leftovers), please consider shopping. Feel free to comment or e-mail if you are interested.
Next on my agenda is getting ready for the fundraiser dance we are having with our friends, the Taylors. I promise a more detailed post on this later (see the fancy button on the top right?), but for now just know that I need to be soliciting donations for our Silent Auction, and I HATE stuff like that. I am also terrible at it! So do me a favor, and if you have a business or know someone who has a business, and would be interested (willing) to donate something, please let me know.
And lastly, and what I would rather be working on than all the rest of this, is getting rooms ready for our kiddos. Cooper is getting a big boy room, and baby girl (still no name...thanks for the suggestions though!) is moving into my craft room. Major moving and painting going on around here. This sounds much more fun to me than tagging clothes and cold calling businesses, but alas, priorities dictate that it falls to last for now. You know you're busy when painting sounds more fun than your other options!!
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