still #1... come on, DECEMBER.

OK, so I found out today that there probably won't be any new referrals until December (which is only a week and a half away). Agitu (the agency founder) is going to Ethiopia and she will be assisting in giving referrals while she is over there.
I was hoping to be able to tell the everyone all about our referral at Thanksgiving, but I think I will have to wait until Christmas now... that's ok, though. I am only a little disappointed.
I trust what my adoptive friend Sheryl told me (I am not "religious"(whatever that means), but I truly believe the words she told me). She told me that "God will give us the right child. The one that is planned for us. Everyone who is supposed to be at the dinner table will be there. "
Even as I type that, I am thinking of the son we lost. Apparently he was not supposed to be at our dinner table. His soul belonged to someone else, somewhere else.

maybe this week...?

I am so anxious and nervous and excited and all that stuff. I THINK we are now first in line waiting for an infant girl. There may not even be infant girl referrals this week, but if there are, I might be getting "the call". We might see our daughter's face this week. We might get a picture that we will look at a million times. A picture that we will memorize every little detail of. I am dying to know what she looks like, who she is, how old she is. We requested a girl 0-12 months at referral and up to 15 months at placement. So, she could be a tiny baby, or she could be a year old. We have no idea yet, but we are on the verge of knowing! It's all I can think about!

Movin on UP....

I think we're either #1 or #2 in line for an infant girl.
All the phone lines and internet lines are down in Ethiopia. I guess sometimes they go down for days. Our agency said that there are referrals this week, but they need to wait for the phone/internet lines to come up so they can get the medical histories and photos.
So, maybe we will get a referral this week. Or maybe not until Christmas. I am not getting my hopes up (ya, right).

CIS Approval and Movin' On Up!

Update: We received CIS approval (Dept of Homeland Security/Immigration) AND, I think we are now #4 on the waiting list for a baby girl!

Miss Maia

I haven't posted a picture of Maia lately, so here she is!

short line!

OK, so of the 6 families that are part of the Oct 21 waiting group, 2 of the families have referrals already! wow, that was FAST! The other 4 families (which include us) are waiting for infant girls. Another family who is AFTER us said that they are #6 in line for an infant girl, which means that we are either #1, #2, #3, #4, or #5! ummm... I am very excited. Maybe we will have a referral by Thanksgiving...... maybe even sooner. I am sooooo happy we switched to BFAS! Of course, I still have a fear that something will go terribly wrong, like after the referral, the court will deny us for some reason, but I have lots of HOPE and excitement! yaaaaaayyyyy!!!!

OFFICIALLY WAITING!!

We (and 6 other families) received an email tonight saying:

Hello everyone!

Your dossiers have been authenticated in St Paul and left our office today for Washington DC for processing. Once received by our office in Addis we will let you know. It should be about 1 week.

We are very happy for all of you. You are all officially awaiting your referrals!!!

Sincerely,

Angela Wagner

Program Administrator

Better Future Adoption Services, Inc.

Yaaaay!! They are estimating that we will be waiting 6 weeks until we receive a referral, and we may travel within 3 months of that, possibly longer. We're sooo happy!