No new news....

Hi Everybody!

Still nothing to report....

On the bright side, the Ethiopian courts have reopened after a LONG Break.   We know we are getting to the top of "the list", but until the courts are opened for a while, nobody knows the rate at which referrals will come through.

So...  We are still hoping for a referral this year, but we just don't know.

Thanks for all you thoughts and well wishes, keep the little guy in your prayers!

B and G

Watching paint dry

I apologize for the LONGGGG delay here. there just has been nothing happening lately, so we are just trying to keep busy.

To recap.... we turned everything in January. On average, its taking 6-9 months for referral (referral is where a kid is matched to you). So, that means we would expect a referral between now and the end of october. You travel to Ethiopia 2-4 months after referral...

So, nothing to do but sit around and enjoy the summer. And work on the house. Gina's got a lot of the baby's room setup and painted, and her dad made us a crib, check it out!



Hope you all are doing well, and I hope we have something interesting to post soon!

B & G

Progress

Ethiopia now knows about us! This is the 'checklist' we have from the the adoption agency... so the next thing that happens is they approve us (Ethiopia), then we just wait for the referral. Quite the process.

One step closer

Really nothing has been happening officially lately....
We did get Homeland security to 'pre-approve' us for immigration, which is nice.

On the home front, we're cleaning out the extra bedroom. Kevy was nice enough to buy a house to store our stuff in. Gina's dad is making a crib and a dresser/changing table. Gina is starting the shopping/painting process. I'm staying out of the way.

I think thats about it... we are almost to the 2 month point... so if everything is on average of 7 months wait time, we will be traveling right around the september time frame. The interesting part is that the Ethiopian government shuts down in September for the rainy season, so we'll probably either be going right before or right after that.

Speaking of weather, did you know... its not nearly as hot as you would think in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia (where we will be going)! right now it is a comfortable 77 F. Its actually pretty high up, 7,630 feet above sea level. The hot part of the country (north eastern side) is much lower. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Ethiopia_Topography.png

Thats all the info for now! Add a comment if there is anything I'm forgetting!

Info about Ethiopia

More links to learn more about what is happening in Ethiopia:

The Economist Magazine - Ethiopia
Ethiopian Embassy
CIA Factbook
Wikipedia - Ethiopia

And the January Newsletter from our agency!

And a neat article from Parade magazine

Podcasts

Just noticed this....
the agency offers free 'podcasts' on different adoption related subjects. A podcast is like a internet radio show.
They offer a few that might be interesting, including intercountry and Transracial adoption.
There is a pretty good chance that if you click on this link, iTunes will open, and you'll be able to 'subscribe' to a podcast.
itpc://www.childrenshomeadopt.org/podcast/Podcasts_-_Adoption_Education_on_the_go2.rss

Sorry if you don't have any idea what I'm talking about,

http://www.childrenshomeadopt.org/Podcasts_-_Adoption_Education_on_the_go2.html

Dossier approved!

Looks like Gina's world class talent in organization and paperwork has payed off! We are offically "on the list".
So at the moment we expect a 6-9 month wait, at which point we'll get a referral (specific kid).
If the medical looks fine, we say 'we accept' and then we travel to ethiopia a few months after that.
We'll be in Ethiopia for a week, then fly home.

More Info

The latest news is that yesterday (tuesday Jan 23rd) we turned in our Dossier! So now the adoption agency http://www.chsfs.org/ pulls everything together, and submits the formal application to Ethiopia.

So, while we wait, here are a few books and links:
http://www.tapestrybooks.com/
http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/
http://www.adoptivefamilies.com/ethiopia_adoption.php


Many people have asked, "What do the children of Ethiopia look like?" Here is a link to the Family Photo Album on the CHSFS website. They sure are cute kids!!!

http://www.childrenshomeadopt.org/Family_Photo_Album6.html

A good article

http://www.childrenshomeadopt.org/Preparing_Family_and_Friends.html

Welcome to the Blog!

HI!
welcome to our Blog. For most of your information, 'Blog' is short for 'Web Log'. As my mom would say, this is sort of a diary that is made on the internets.

So, the point here is to record and share info about the progress of our adoption. we've been working on this since last August, If you are reading this, and its a surprise, that is probably thanks to Brian's top notch communication skills. I'm sorry. Give me a call and yell at me, I deserve it.

As of now, we are wrapping up the formal 'dossier'. That is pronounced "Doss-E-Yea". It is the application and paperword that is submitted to the US and Ethiopian governments and courts.

So, next steps are to to get all this paperwork notorized and turned in. THEN, we are formally accepted and go on a waiting list. Currently it is taking about 7 months to get a referral (baby assigned to us). Then 2 or 3 months after that, we go to Ethiopia and pick him up! He will be about 6 months old when we bring him home.

So, that is the basic info.
For more information, this is our adoption agency. They have a lot of good stuff. http://www.childrenshomeadopt.org/Ethiopia_Adoptions.html

Stay tuned! We'll try to keep this up to date, please feel free to post any questions!