Yeah for the Hansels!!

I just found out this morning that the Hansels (who got their referral the same day we did) just received their court date after only a 4 week wait! Their court date is January 5th with a possible embassy appointment on February 5th! They waited SO long for their baby girl and I'm thrilled that they got such a fast turn around on their court date!!!

Now before you get too excited, that does NOT mean we'll get a court date immediately . . . dates are not given out in order of referral. It has more to do with the paperwork and when it gets translated/collected/submitted to court (a delicate dance between CHI, the orphanage, the transition house, the MOWA, etc., etc.) . . . we could still have several more weeks of waiting for our court date. But it's coming!!!

Again, congrats to the Hansels!

A Little Smoke with our Coffee?

This last Saturday night a group of dear friends came together to help us celebrate our little guy's first birthday at Kokeb restaurant in Seattle. Believe it or not, this was our first experience with Ethiopian food . . . I know, amazing, huh? I took the brand new Flip video camera Kyle just bought me with the intention of posting a cute little video of our evening. Well, that's not going to happen . . . let's just say the videographer (that would be ME) needs a little practice on her new toy before she shares!! That said, however, Kyle took a few still photos that came out just lovely. He's good like that.

ANYWAY . . . we had a wonderful meal (photo below) . . . we ordered both a veggie combo plate and a meat combo plate. Both were fabulous (I can speak for the veggie side, and am taking the word of others on the meat side!!).

Following dinner, we were treated to a coffee ceremony. They first brought out a small pan with the roasting beans in it so we could savor the aroma. Then after lighting something fragrant in a small dish (we couldn't figure out what it was -- although it smelled wonderful), they served some wonderful coffee which we thoroughly enjoyed.

It was a great evening and a place we'll go back to many times. The ladies there all made us promise to bring our son with us the next time we visit. A promise we look forward to!

A thank you to our friends for making the evening so much fun!

Happy Birthday

Today is the 1 year birthday of our gorgeous new son! How we wish we could be there to share this special day with him (or that, even better, he could be here with us!).

Our message to our son on his first birthday:

Sending all our love across the continents and oceans that, for now, separate us. We hope that your day is as special as you are. We hope today, and each day until we are together, that you are surrounded with all the hugs and kisses and warmth and safety and love we will shower upon you. We will be there soon. All our love, Mommy & Daddy

Getting Cozy with my Phone Again!

As you all know by now, I spent several LONG weeks recently carrying my phone with me EVERYWHERE just knowing I might get THE CALL. I thought those days were behind me, but now I find I'm constantly (dare I say OBSESSIVELY?) carrying and checking my phone again waiting to hear from our friends Greg and Tegan about THEIR referral!!! I'll have you know, I carried that phone near and dear to my heart all through Costco, PCC, the bank, the post office . . . but, alas, no referrals seem to have gone out today. I'm prepared to go the distance and get cozy with my cell phone again anxiously awaiting the call about THEIR call!

On other fronts, there were several court dates handed out to other waiting families today . . . including one family that received their referral just 2 weeks before us (which is a MUCH shorter wait than we've been told to expect). I'm not getting my hopes up, but that was a fun ray of sunshine to brighten our rainy Monday.

Oh, and Costco is now a dangerous place for me. I took a very (VERY) innocent stroll through the baby aisle (you know, just CHECKING) . . . walked out with three outfits. They WERE really cute and I apparently have no self-restraint. :o)

Well, that's about it for today . . . hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Timelines and Yup, More Waiting!

We have officially accepted the referral of our 11 1/2 month old son! CHI (our agency) has confirmed receipt of our acceptance paperwork and final adoption fee payment!

And since many of you have asked, the following are some expectations our agency has set about what comes next:

* It may take from 5 - 8 weeks to hear when our court date has been set (that would be mid December - mid January).
* The court date we receive will be an additional 4 - 6 weeks from the date we get notice of it (so, late January to mid February). We will NOT travel to Ethiopia for court; that takes place before we get there. IF we pass court the first time (dependent on proper paperwork being submitted, surviving birth parents showing up at court, no power outages to delay court, etc., etc.), we would officially be the legal parents of our new son by the end of the court day. If there's a problem with any paperwork, etc., a new date is usually scheduled within 2 weeks.
* Once we've officially passed court, we wait for an embassy appointment in Ethiopia (wherein we receive paperwork to legally bring our new son back to the U.S.). This appointment date is the trigger for when we get to travel to Ethiopia. Embassy appointments can be up to 4 weeks from the date you pass court (which could be any time in the month of March, maybe late February).

SOOOOO, to recap: Given all the uncertainties and "what ifs" listed above . . . worse case scenario, we won't travel to pick up our son until late March. Best case scenario would be late February, early March.

The continued wait is maddening, of course, but there's a more "real" element to it now. Before, when we were waiting for this open-ended, abstact idea of a referral, it was so much harder to grab onto anything tangible. Now we have a face, a name, a heart, little lips, beautiful eyes, a SOUL to focus on as we count down the weeks.

Thank you to everyone for your phone calls, emails, blog comments and FB postings! It's wonderul to share our excitement and we both truly appreciate the love and support we've received!

More to come . . .

I Have Been Waiting a Long Time to Say it!!

Yup, that's right: WE GOT OUR REFERRAL!!!

This morning Kyle and I got the call referring us a BEAUTIFUL 11 month old baby boy! I know all mom's and dad's think that, but TRULY, TRULY this is a beautiful baby boy with the biggest, most beautiful eyes that just look right into your soul!

After having my phone strapped to my side for weeks (well, truth be told, it was tucked inside my bra where ever I went!!), I actually didn't have it with me this morning. Heck, I was in the shower, so you know . . . ANYWAY, when I got out of the shower I noticed I had three missed calls!! Before panic could set in, the phone rang and it was our agency with Kyle on the other line. We got to receive the good news at the same time and then look at the pictures of our new baby boy!!

Many, many thanks to our wonderful support network for being there during the last 11 + months. Now just a little more waiting before we can bring our new baby home. Time wise . . . we're looking at probably another 3 months before we get to travel to get him, but we have a beautiful face to gaze at when the waiting gets tough.

HAVING A HARD TIME FOCUSING!!!! Floating about 80,000 feet above the ground right now!

I'll post more later . . .

End of Week Update

Just a quick note . . .

The week ended with no more referrals (besides the 2 on Monday).

Gwen is convinced it'll be next week (although she was also convinced it'd be last Wednesday for some reason). I'm thinking it might be right after Thanksgiving. Kyle's somewhere in between! I'm actually quite calm even knowing we're soooo close. I thought I'd be chomping at the bit, but I've reached a strange level of peace in the last few days. Because we are so close, it feels like an inevitability (finally) so a week or two one way or the other doesn't matter as much. Of course that's how I feel today. Tomorrow? Who knows?? :o)

Either way, I'll post an update next week.