Why again?
My response to this is always, "Why not?" But I know that isn't really the response people are really looking for. Here's the deal folks, we've now seen a place where kids walk the street with no clothes, no food, no parents and no one to love them. The images of what we saw are haunting and they never leave our minds. And we have all of those things. We know the choice of adoption as "Plan A" is hard to understand for many people, because it's hard for us to understand sometimes! We can't really explain why we are wired to love adoption so much, but we trust in God's direction for our family and we are just very excited to have a little brother or sister for Eli that will be "like him" so-to-speak.
So, you aren't infertile?
No idea. We've still never tried that route. I still never rule out the possibility of a biological child, but I think we need to just see what having two kids is like before making ANY decisions about more children.
Where are you in the process?
The very beginning. Actually, not even the very beginning yet. Ugh. Our application will be at our agency (yes, the same awesome agency as last time) on August 1st. The process is expected to take anywhere from 14-18 months. We have been waiting to submit an application so we can pay all of our fees again in cash.
So, boy or girl this time?!
No idea! Although we will put down that we don't have a gender preference just like last time, things are a bit different in Ethiopia right now. Unlike last time when boys were more commonly referred to families with no gender preference, it's now more 50/50 with both girls and boys being referred pretty evenly. One thing is for sure though, we will be requesting a child younger than Eli, as we do not want to adopt out of birth order for many reasons that I won't go into now. (I'll post a future blog on that topic.)
Is the process any different this time around?
Yes, but that is okay. The process this time may take a bit longer because thankfully, Ethiopia is taking steps to protect their children from those that wish to corrupt the adoption process. So, we will take 2 trips to Ethiopia this time, one to meet our child and attend court and then again to pick the child up. Paperwork processes are now more regulated (again, good news) so that could take a bit longer. I am thinking and hoping the waiting game is easier this time since we have Eli to distract us. :-)
Will you be blogging like you did last time?
Yep! Hopefully this will make me a better blogger again!
Are you nervous?
Yes. I'd be lying if I said this process doesn't scare the you-know-what out of me with all the risks involved. But I just have to trust God will see us through it again as he did before. It also helps that my husband is the most amazingly calm person about this process, so he keeps me in check!
Well, I think that's enough for today! Thank you for all the love and support over on Facebook, you all are so sweet!
