Post It Notes: Wait? What wait?

It'll be three weeks tomorrow. That's how long we've been on the waiting list. That means one week from now we will hit the one month mark. (Wait for our referral is estimated at 3-9 months total, so we are close to being at 2-8 months!) So next week I will Email our agency asking our place on the waiting list. Right now we have no idea. Let me tell you though, I think ignorance is bliss in some ways.

In the meantime, I have fallen in love with another little boy who just happens to be from Ethiopia! Let me introduce little Rylee Bona:

We have made some very fun new adoption friends Meggan and Ryan and their little boy Rylee B. We spent last Saturday with them watching football, drinking a "few" beers and talking about Ethiopia. They even showed us an amazing video with highlights from their trip, it's so amazing to see how real it will be. Right now it still feels like a dream a little bit.

In other adoption news, I'm still freelance writing and it seems all the attention I was getting from a few adult adoptees has died down, I'm hopeful I can make my blog public again in a few weeks. But for now, it's going to remain as is. I tell you one thing though, I will NEVER allow comments on it again. Geez, that was insane.

Well, that's about it. We have a VERY busy weekend ahead with GVSU Homecoming, a wedding and we are going to see Dane Cook! Then on Sunday, I'm going to meet a big group of other Ethiopian adoptive mothers for lunch at Olive Garden in Grandville, I'm really excited to make even more adoption friends. I'll make sure to write next week to update you all on how it went as well as our place on the waiting list!

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!