Post It Notes: I Love Blogging

So, I had NO CLUE when I started this blog what a response I would get from people. People who I NEVER thought would read it are coming up to me and talking to me about it. I am so happy that this site is serving as a tool to educate so many people around me about what the adoption process is really about and how badly these children need us.

I'm not going to lie, it's been hard the last few days to feel SO CLOSE to the waiting list but not yet be on it. I know things are progressing at a very good speed and we are very much in the homestretch as far as paperwork is concerned, but I just really want to be on that list! I'm hoping we will be on it shortly after Labor Day.

So, as always, while we wait our fingerprinting appointment and our I-171H form, we have been trying to do anything we can so that we are ahead of the game. So, that includes our passport photos, and being the cheese that I am, I took a picture of them!

I also spend a lot of time just looking at the room in our house that will be the nursery. I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to paint the walls, lay out the furniture, ect. Right now it is our very underused office.

Mark and I have decided not to buy anything for the baby until the referral day, so the room will stay "as is" for awhile, but I did justify making this one tiny, little $3.00 purchase. It says, "Worth the wait"

So for now, it will stay tucked away right here in my son's future walk-in closet. (That we are now using for storage, obviously!)

Yes, I'm for real, he will actually have his own walk in closet. LOL, I have to share mine with Mark and he's going to get his own.

Timelines

Adoption #2

6/20/12: Announced we will be adopting again!

7/5/12: Faxed in preliminary application to Adoption Associates.

7/31/12: Finished formal application

8/13/12: Homestudy update

9/13/12: Sent I600A

10/17/12: Fingerprinting Appointment

10/23/12: Received I-171H!!!

11/16/12: Dossier to Ethiopia, officially "waiting". Informed we are #41 on the waiting list.

3/28/12 #29 on the waiting list

6/1/13 #19 on the waiting list

7/1/13 #17 on the waiting list

Adoption #1 - Eli Akram Post

Late 2008/early 2009: Researched agencies, talked with agencies.

4/19/2009 Decided we are adopting from Ethiopia!

4/23/2009 Faxed preliminary application

5/15-5/21/2009 Home Study Meetings

7/25/2009 Agency Approved

7/27/2009 I-600A Sent (USCIS Approval Request)

8/15/2009 Fingerprinting appointment

9/12/2009 I-171H arrives!

9/24/2009 Dossier to Ethiopia! OFFICIALLY "WAITING" #24 on the list

10/22/2009 WAITING #12 on the list

11/18/2009 WAITING #9 on the list

12/17/2009 WAITING #4 on the list

1/15/2010 Still WAITING #2 on the list

3/15/2010 Still WAITING, still #2.

3/31/2010 REFERRAL DAY!!!

4/20/2010 Notified that our court date is 5/6/2010

5/6/2010 WE PASSED COURT!

6/16/2010 FOREVER FAMILY!

New here?

Please visit the blog archive below, find the first post (in the month of April, 2009) and read from the beginning if you like!

Important Words To Remember:

*Dossier* The set of documents that we send to Ethiopia to be put on the waiting list.

*Referral* The photo and information on our child that we will receive several months after we've been on the waiting list. This is when we find out who our little one is!

*Court date* After we receive our referral, a court date will be set up about 6 weeks later. We will travel to Ethiopia for this hearing.

*First Trip* The trip both of us will take to attend the court hearing and meet our child.

*Second Trip* The second trip when one of us will travel to pick up the child from Ethiopia and bring them home!

Most commonly asked question:

"Why?"

Answer: Mark and I don't really know, we believe there is a reason God put it on our hearts to adopt first rather than trying to have biological children. This does not mean we will never try for a biological child, it's just not where we are being led to build our family right now. We ask that you please respect our decision and join us in celebrating our amazing family!