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.

To the Birds!

Just thought I'd quickly post photos of my fabric bird mobile project. The first pic is just a close-up of each bird . . . I added wool wings because from viewed from below (as in a baby laying down looking up at them), they look more like birds that way!


And also, there were two more babies referred today: a little baby girl to a family that waiting 14 1/2 months (so long!!) and a baby boy to a family that waiting 11 1/2 months. We've been told we're REALLY close, as in "strap the phone to our sides" close. I'll keep you posted . . .

One more . . .

A family that waited "just shy of 12 months" received a referral for a 4 1/2 month old baby boy this afternoon.

We are shy of 12 months by 20 days . . . so stinkin' close!! And yes, I'm jumping out of my skin. LOL. I think I've aged 5 years in the last 5 months . . . the tension really does show in your face and posture.

I'm working on an adorable fabric bird mobile (thanks Tegan for the idea!) . . . got 4 birds done today and when it's finished, I'll post photos.

'Til later . . . XO

Referrals Today . . .

Brief update . . . four (4!!!) referrals today. Two boys and two girls. Both the girls were older (in the 4 year old range) which is something our agency has been short of in recent months so that's great news for the waiting families!). One of the referred boys was 13 months old (our upper end request is 12 months so we just missed that one!) and the family waited 11 months. The other referred boy was 2 months old (itty bitty) and that family waited 12 months.

So close . . . feels like the magic bullets hit on either side of us, but not quite on target! It's getting closer.