I think I’m still running on adrenaline. The events of the past couple of days still seem surreal. I’ve been carrying three pictures around with me everywhere I go, showing them to every friend I see. We have wallet sizes and 4X6 sizes and even 8X10s! We’re pretty obsessed with the sweet little face that we first saw just two days ago, and I can’t get that little guy off my mind! I want to share every single detail we know about him on here, and it’s so hard to write these posts without using his name. Our agency, however, advises against that since he’s not legally our son yet.
As I mentioned before, we got the referral call at 5:20 Wednesday afternoon. We were supposed to be at our weekly small group meeting at 6:00. We got off the phone with Julie at 6:00, and I hit the “Get Mail” button about 37 times in the next few minutes after the call ended. We knew that pictures were included in that email, and we just couldn’t wait to see them! Meanwhile, we were trying to explain to Riley & Cole what had just happened while throwing on shoes and brushing teeth and grabbing our Bibles to get ready to head out the door. It was insane, and we were still in shock! The email finally arrived, and we all gathered around the computer screen to see our little man for the first time!!! I will never forget seeing his face. One picture was taken the first day he got to Hannah’s Hope, and he looks sad or mad (can’t tell which). One shows him grinning (with cute little teeth showing!) with his foot propped up on “his” ball. The third one shows him sitting on his bed hugging a teddy bear. He has a little mischievous grin on his face. It’s my favorite, and you can see his little feet!
We tried to soak in the pictures for about 60 seconds, and then we rushed out the door to head to small group – calling our families on the way. We got to small group and shared our news with everyone and stared at the computer screen some more. Everyone was completely surprised, and needless to say, we didn’t really have a normal small group that night! It was really fun to be able to celebrate with some of our close friends. Here’s a picture one of them took of us that evening (thanks Laser) . . .
1) I talked with Julie again on Thursday. She called to see if we wanted to move forward with the referral. We, of course, had no reservations whatsoever about doing so. She explained the referral acceptance process to me and emailed all of the forms included in the referral packet.
2) I contacted a local international pediatrician to schedule a review of little man’s medical records. We had a phone call today where he explained everything in terms I can understand, and he wrote a letter to our agency that is required. We were so thankful to get this done today!
3) Tomorrow I’ll meet up with our social worker to have her sign a paper that is required.
4) I’ve begun completing our “Adoptive Parent Transition Plan” – which is several pages long.
On Monday we’re hoping to have all of the paperwork for the referral complete and have everything notarized. If it all works out, I will overnight the documents to AGCI on Monday. Our dossier is now in Washington D.C., where it is being authenticated by the U.S. Department of State. It will then be sent to the Ethiopian Embassy in D.C. where it will be authenticated again. From there, it will make its way to Ethiopia where it will sit until it’s opened in court.
Speaking of court, we have something you can pray about. Because of the rainy season in Ethiopia, the courts close in August and September. We’re praying that all of the moving parts come together so that we can make our first trip to Ethiopia prior to the court closing. That would mean that we could possibly travel next month (best case scenario). We’re also waiting on them to locate little man’s birth certificate (or get a new one – I don’t know???), and that will have to be done before our file can be opened in court. Lastly, we will need our FDL (Favorable Determination Letter) from USCIS before the second trip, so pray that it will arrive quickly. After we travel the first time, we will come home without him (so sad), but we’ll go back to bring him home about 4-8 weeks later.
Okay, I’m out of words, and I’m sure you’re eyes are probably hurting from reading all of this by now! I’ve just had several people call wanting an update, so I thought I’d just put it all on here! I hope you all have a great weekend!
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