We mailed our dossier today! We decided that no matter what the out of pocket cost is, it is well worth it. God will make it work for us. Our home study is very very close to being done. We will hopefully be scheduling our in home visit this week and it takes two weeks after the visit to write the report. As soon as that report is written, we will be put on the waiting list! I am so full of anticipation and curiosity. I think that our son is born already. I wonder what he is doing right now. I wish he could know that we are coming for him.

Bad news

Today was kind of a sad day for us. We have our dossier ready to send to International Adoption Net and now we might not be sending it at all. We were hoping and praying that a letter to the pastor of our church might be an outlet to relieve some of this heavy financial strain. Today, we approached the pastor to talk about his thoughts on the matter and were sorely disappointed with the outcome. We are now relying entirely on grants to assist us. Unfortunately, grants are hard to come by. So many grants are asking that you do a fundraiser for your adoption or are reserved for those who are adopting older children, special needs children, or sibling groups. Fundraising is almost a guaranteed failure due to lack of support and the fact that almost everyone we know is struggling with their own financial issues.
I don't know what to do right now. The only thing that feels right is to sit down and pray for something good to happen here.

Things are still going pretty smoothly. Today I called our agency, International Adoption Net, to get a few last minute questions answered while I prepare to send out our dossier. They informed me that there are only 7 people on the waiting list right now and the last family got their referral in 5 weeks! Wow! That is incredibly fast. I am hoping and praying that our home study gets completed by this time next month so that we can send our dossier out. I am also in need of extra prayers that our pastor will call with good news about support from the church. I am starting to stress out about the bills that are rolling in. As soon as the home study is complete, we can start applying for grants!





I am getting more and more excited as time goes on. I have been trying so hard not to buy things for the new baby. The only thing stopping me is the fact that his age upon arrival is unknown. I would hate to buy a bunch of clothes that he has already outgrown. I found a great shop at Etsy.com that is almost impossible to resist:


http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=30891418

The seller makes them for several different places. I am definitely buying one as soon as we get our referral.

Some really good news came this past weekend. My older sister Audra may be going with us to Africa! She is not entirely approving of this adoption because I still have some schooling left and James and I have only been married for two years, however, she is still excited to be a part of this process with us. I would absolutely love for her to be there when we first meet our son.

Well, thats all for now.

Dossier passport photos

Okay all of you adoptive parents......

If your dossier requires passport photos of yourself and/or your spouse DONT go get them professionally done! Today, James and I went to Walgreens to get 8 passport photos EACH. It is a requirement of the Ethiopian government. We spent 70 bucks for some 15 year old kid to stand us in front of a white backdrop and use his digital camera to take the pictures. WE COULD HAVE DONE THAT FROM HOME FOR FREE! For some reason, I thought that they were "official" or something if they came from a place that did "passport photos". By passport photo, they just mean a head shot that is 2x2 inches. Ah well, you live and you learn I guess.

Our very first blog post

Wow, this is so exciting. For those who did not know, we have decided to adopt a baby boy from Ethiopia!! It has been about a month now since we started the process. So far we have:

1. Almost completed our home study. We are just waiting on the in-home visits. We barreled our way through all of the paperwork and appointments ( things like physicals, fingerprinting, psychological evaluations).

2. Been accepted by an agency called International Adoption Net who have been great to us so far. We are currently tackling our Dossier (a bunch of documentation that goes to the Ethiopian government for review). I have had the dossier for two days now and probably have 1/3 of it complete. Thats right, I am obsessed.

3. Started two art projects for our future son.

4. Joined an adoption group at church that is made up of some really great families. I feel lucky to have met them.

5. Asked my Pastor Ron for help in regards to the fees. Have not heard back yet but am hopeful.

6. Moved Stella to a toddler bed and re-arranged the room to fit two instead of one :)

7. Completed 10 hours of training and passed 4 tests for the adoption.

Currently, we are expecting a 4 to 6 month wait from the time our dossier reaches Ethiopia to the time we recieve a refferal of a baby to us. At that time, we can either accept him or deny him based on his health and whatever else. (I cant imagine we would deny any baby). I have complete faith in God that he is taking control and will deliver us with a boy who we were destined to love and care for. I have zero worries about any of this. Even if we get stuck with the entire bill, its all good :)
I am in love with a child who is probably not even born yet.