update on the wait

Since the last time I posted, our agency had 6 referrals for boys (11 referrals total). That's an incredible number for a two week time period (most updates we get have 0-2 referrals for each gender)!! Part of me is scared that it will keep up like this and we will be travelling much sooner than the very soonest I anticipated, but part of me is oh-so-excited to meet our son. Every time I read an adoption story, or see pictures of these children I just long to hold him.

I am, however, a little worried about how Drew will accept being a big brother. He has always been a big mama's boy, but recently he hasn't wanted me out of his site. And whenever he sees me with another child, he tries to push them out of the way. I remember Grace Caroline doing this to her cousin ("get your own mama") when I was pregnant, so I know it's natural. But Drew is much younger now than Grace Caroline was when I was pregnant with Drew. And whenever we try to tell him that we're getting a baby and he's going to be a big brother, he simply says, "No, Mama." So I would ask for prayers for his adjustment to sharing his Mama.

More Details

I talked to our case manager on Friday, and got more details about our status. We are currently number 15 waiting for a boy, but 6 of those ahead of us are waiting for either gender. She said to anticipate 6 months wait for a referral, but it could be sooner. While we're waiting, our dossier will be authenticated, translated, and reviewed by the Ethiopian government. Once we receive our referral, we will have it reviewed by the International Adoption Center here at Cincinnati Children's to make sure there are no medical red flags that we (with less experience) might miss. Then we decide either to accept our referral or decline and wait for a different child. After accepting our referral, the orphanage director goes to court for us and the adoption in Ethiopia takes place. We will probably travel about 2 months after we accept our referral. The catch for us is that Ethiopian courts are closed the months of August and September (can you imagine if we did that?), so depending on when we get our referral, we may be delayed by that. We're probably looking at either August or October travel, though!!

The wait is on!

On Friday, February 29 (Leap Day), we received our Favorable Determination Letter, notification that we are approved by Citizenship and Immigration Services to care for 1 orphan. That places us on the waiting list for a boy!! As of Friday, there were nine families waiting for a boy, so we will make number 10. The wait time for a referral is generally 2-6 months; we are anticipating around a 4 month wait time. Of course, that is not when we will be travelling. Once we accept our referral, it is approximately one month until we travel (maybe longer -- I haven't really gotten details about that).

So my timeline has gotten moved up by a couple of months!! I was expecting to bring him home in October, but it's now looking like it will be sometime this summer. Actually, to tell the truth, I spent most of the day on Saturday on the verge of tears, and much time in prayer, struggling with this change in plans. It was amazing how God reassured me throughout the day that His timing is perfect. I can't say that I am overjoyed with this new timeline, but I am no longer panicked about it. I'm just praying that it'll take closer to 6 months rather than going quickly!! Pray that we'll be ready!